


watch for the sunrise

by AssumingMinds19



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: A shittone of angs, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Alternate Universe - Small Town, Angst, Cowboy!Kara, Debt, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Happy Ending, F/F, Family Drama, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Homophobia, Kara Danvers Needs a Hug, Lena Luthor Needs a Hug, Prank Wars, Slow Burn Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Well maybe Kara does, Well they don't hate hate eachother, Yeehaw?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2019-06-06 08:28:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 147,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15190829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AssumingMinds19/pseuds/AssumingMinds19
Summary: Kara lives alone with her alcoholic father on a patch of land she’s barely been able to keep afloat. Kara refuses to let it go without a fight, but between the bank threatening foreclosure, her father’s health constantly declining and the new development executive for Luthor Corp breathing down her neck, will she be able to hold out any longer?Farm AU, that's a little bit different, in a modern setting with a Cowboy Kara and plenty of yeehaw.





	1. Fence Posts and Eggs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alas, I can barely finish one story without starting another one. Let me know what you guys think :)
> 
> Spotify Playlist for this work, via of an awesome fan :)
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/user/chulafirula/playlist/0tmhMTMSE2sxNRLoIiqrKr?si=69AhKk1zRXO_0-shx9s0HQ
> 
> Take Me Home, Country Roads - Brandi Carlile
> 
> Losing Side of 25 - Wolves

The sun had barely risen over the paddock, and yet she was here, lying in the dirt. Watching with a laser-like vision the front door of the well maintained and picturesque farmhouse. The place was immaculate, a far cry from the rundown, ramshackle, drafty shack she and her father called a home.

 

No, this was the Lord’s farm. Every piece of equipment from the tractor to the post hole driver was barely a year old. Oscar shifted beside her, his nose twitching as he watched the barn door for a hint of movement. He let out a low whine, making Kara gesture with her hand for him to be quiet.

 

They were watching and waiting, had been for over an hour. Last night, when Kara had dropped by the town bar for her usual pickup, she had overheard a drunk Max Lord complain to all his buddies that his father was making him do fencing the next day. Her ears had perked up at that, and the corner of her mouth twitched. She guessed that the arrogant man would start early. It made sense, considering the nature of the job and how hot the days got out here.

 

And she needed all the material she could get. 

 

The farm needed all the material it could get.

 

Finally, the door to the opulent house opened to reveal the overdressed pompous prick that was Maxwell Lord. He stumbled over to the barn, still nursing a hangover probably, and shifted around before carrying out a stack of fenceposts and throwing them in the back of the Lord’s farm truck.

 

This was it, Kara thought as she lifted herself up into a crouch. The blonde waited for a minute until the man turned back to the barn to grab more gear and then she sprinted for the truck, Oscar hot on her heels. She grabbed the tied stack of posts as quietly as she could and sprinted back the way she came as fast as possible in the direction of the boundary fence between her family farm and the Lord’s. She was only part of the way there when she heard the roar of the truck start and start forward in her direction fast. Kara picked up her speed until she was running as fast as she could, finding her way to the gap in the fence and diving through it her dog following her just as quickly. The blonde dived into a ditch and pulled Oscar close to her just in time to hear the truck screech to a halt by the fence line and the slam of the car door.

 

“You fucking bitch!” Max screamed out, making the corner of Kara’s mouth twitch upwards even as she panted for air.

 

“I know you’re there! You think you’re so clever…but one of these days I’m going to catch you in the act and then your broke ass will be in jail and your piss poor excuse for a farm will go under the hammer! What will happen to your daddy then, huh? Maybe he’ll finally fall down a hole and break his fucking neck. I’ll make sure to send you pictures.”

 

Another slam of a car door sounded and the truck roared to life again before driving away.

 

Kara let out a breath and a laugh, peeking over the ridge of dirt to make sure that Max truly had disappeared before standing to her feet and picking up the fallen bundle of posts with a huff, slung them over her shoulder and started to walk back towards the dilapidated farmhouse.

 

They were just what she needed to finish that patched up and rotting fence she’d been itching to repair for the last month. The last storm had made it even more precarious, and at this point, it was more likely to start dancing than to keep any livestock in.

 

Not that they currently had any livestock to keep in.

 

Still, it didn’t hurt to be optimistic. And they wouldn’t be without cattle forever if Kara had anything to say about it.

 

Well, she was the only one who had any say about anything around here really. On the odd occasion when her father was in a particular blustery state he would rant about how it was 'still his farm' and he wasn’t senile yet. Of course, his words carried less weight when he collapsed on the floor and the blonde was forced to carry him to his bed.

 

But today she promised herself she wasn’t going to linger on those thoughts, today she had a plan.

 

She was going to fix her fence with her appropriated posts and then finally getting started painting the slowly renovated cottage they had on their farm. It gnawed at Kara’s mind that she wasn’t as far along in the renovations as she liked, but she had been forced to be creative when it came to repairing the old place and that had stunted her schedule.

 

The blonde had been forced to be creative with a lot of things these days.

 

But ever since they had been forced to sell the last of their livestock, the farm had no income coming in. And with the bank nipping at their heels for repayments on the mortgages she had to take out and the property developers sniffing around the place, Kara had been forced to think of ways to come up with some cash and quickly.

 

The cottage used to house the workers her family would hire back in the day. Way, way back when the Zorel family was an actual family. Before her uncle and aunt had died, followed by her mother years later and then Clark abandoning her for greener pastures in the city. Now it was just her and her father.

 

But her dad wasn’t up for much these days.

 

So the work that used to be managed by at least three people at any given time had fallen on Kara alone.

 

The blonde supposed she shouldn’t complain too much. Everyone in the area was suffering from the drought that had hit the state hard. No rain when rain was sorely needed. She’d barely been able to get a pittance of what her cattle were actually worth when she sold them, but nobody was making money these days.

 

Hence why she was working on the cottage. Kara figured maybe, just maybe, she could make some income renting the place out to city slickers who needed a weekend away from their ‘stressful’ lives. It was a long shot, she knew. But it was something at least and the only accommodation for visitors in the area for hundreds of miles was two dingy rooms above the local bar.

 

Maybe, she thought as she shifted the posts on her shoulders once more, the cottage was the answer to their financial problems.

 

She let out an internal sigh.

 

It was something, at least.

 

Once she reached the rusted and half rotted cattle yards, Kara was finally able to dump the posts down next to her old fencing gear with a grunt. She stretched her aching back, before scratching her panting and faithful dog behind his ears.

 

Kara had been lucky with the posts this morning. If she had moved a second too slow, Max would have caught her and then there would have been hell to pay.

 

It wasn’t like the blonde enjoyed stealing off her wealthier neighbours, but the finances being as they were she was limited in her options. And the Lord’s had been horrible enough over the years for the blonde to justify the thefts in her mind, and it wasn’t like she took anything big.

 

Some fence posts here and there, a bit of wire on the side. Occasionally the odd toolbox.

 

Her neighbours on the other side of her farm did all that they could to help her out, but the Danvers weren’t faring much better in the financial department. And Kara was loathed to take the little charity they offered considering they needed it just as much as she did. The only way Eliza and Alex had managed to keep their own farm afloat was because their income was being supplemented by Alex’s girlfriend’s equally meagre Sheriff’s wage. 

 

So no, Kara wasn’t going to take what little left they had.

 

Kara hesitated as she looked over to her rundown house. She wasn’t eager to step foot in the place, she never was. Her dad was always more mellow in the mornings to be sure, but last night they had had a furious argument once again over Kara’s renovation project, completed fully by the drunk man hurling his half-eaten plate in the sink. Either this morning would be stony silence, or a cheery greeting as if the events of last night had never occurred at all. With each passing day, it took Kara more effort to handle her father’s behaviour, but there was nothing to do except grit her teeth and bear it. The blonde had a responsibility to keep this dried out patch of land afloat, and she’d be damned to abandon it the way her cousin had.

 

Kara felt a pang of guilt at the thought. Clark had made his choice, yes. The blonde didn’t like it, but she couldn’t hold it against him anymore. The years after his leaving had lessened the sting his departure had caused, but the wound still remained.

 

But she understood why he had left. Only a madman would hang around for all this. Her older cousin had seized his chance to follow his own path and a part of Kara envied him. But as horrible and bleak as her current situation was, there was no way the blonde would ever leave this place. Their family had owned this land for five generations and that meant something to her. Beyond the money signs, the bank painted over the land. This was where she’d grown up and her heart was linked into every tree root and rock. 

 

It was her home.

 

With that thought lingering in her mind, Kara made her way up the creaking steps and opened the back door of the house quietly, knocking the dust off her boots as she entered the house with Oscar.

 

Her father was up and sitting hunched over his place at the dining room table, nursing a cup of tea that Kara dryly assumed was his second ingestion of liquid for the day. His sunken eyes turned up at her appearance and he gave her a bleary smile. A small amount of tension left Kara’s shoulders at that, and she returned the gesture with a half smile of her own before bustling about the kitchen to get some toast with jam. She eyed the bare cupboards of the pantry shrewdly, deciding that she would have to make a run into town today to stock up on some food when her father spoke behind her.

 

“You’re up early.”

 

Kara flipped the electric kettle on, before turning around to reply.

 

“I had some work to do Dad.”

 

The man nodded in his seat.

 

“You work too hard, Kara,” he said with a tinge of regret in his voice.

 

The blonde couldn’t help but snort internally.

 

_Oh? I work too hard? That’s not what you thought last night. Last night I was a lazy brat who was using up all your power._

 

“Well, these things need doing. Best to start before it gets too hot anyway. You taught me that.”

 

The man nodded once again, but a wry smile played on the edge of his mouth at the words.

 

Sometimes Kara was smart and diverted the conversation into happier territory by reminding her father that yes, he did, in fact, teach her some useful things about operating and working on a farm.

 

But more often than not these days, her dad would view her words as a subtle barb and launch into an emotional speech about how horrible he was feeling and that he knew he was letting her down. It was exhausting and more often than not, Kara would rather be moody. Skip the compliment and the more than likely tearful conversation, heading straight into argument territory.

 

Either way, he still ended up drinking.

 

“You know, I was thinking that maybe I could ask J’onn if he could give you some shifts down at the general store, Lord knows I’ve spent enough money there over the years for him to do me a favour,” he said with a grumble before taking another sip of his tea.

 

Kara knew her father meant well, but there was absolutely no way that J’onn was going to hire her. The fact was the man was as strapped for cash as the rest of the people in the area. That and the blonde already owed the man a bucket of cash from the materials she needed to fix up the cottage. The man had been kind enough to be very generous with the time she was expected to pay the money back, but even his generosity only stretched so far.

 

And Kara had things to do here. She didn’t have the time to take on more hours when she was barely able to fit in her own farm work and renovations on top of the few shifts she managed to get at the bar paying off her father’s running tab. At this point, the blonde often wondered if it wouldn’t just be cheaper to build a distillery of her own in one of the sheds, the way her father was drinking these days.

 

“That’s an idea, Dad,” she answered easily instead of speaking her mind. “I’ll ask him when I’m in town today.”

 

Her father nodded his satisfaction at that, before standing up wobbly to his feet.

 

“Kara, I’m really not feeling well. I think I’m going to go back to bed.”

 

_Yeah, that’s right. Have another glass from the bottles you don’t think I know you stash in your room and then have a nap. Feeling sick my arse._

 

“Ok, Dad,” she answered instead.

 

He gave her another smile before turning once more to stagger away in the direction of his room.

 

Kara let out a breath when the door closed, more tension leaving her shoulders even as a headache formed behind her eyes. She was sick of walking on eggshells in her own house, warily waiting for the next explosion of anger to roll out of her father.

 

Still, she thought as she stood to her feet, better to make do with the situation she had instead of the one she wished she had.

 

As Kara exited the house, she whistled for Oscar to follow, opening the door to her truck for the dog to jump through and settle on the passenger seat. The blonde watched him with fondness, knowing that her father hated the fact that she let the cattle dog into the cab with her. In his mind, as much as you could love them, a dog was a dog. They slept outside rain or shine and rode in the back of the truck. But Oscar wasn’t just an animal to Kara. He was her best friend. She’d gotten him a week after Clark left and he’d been by her side ever since.

 

Loyalty was rare between family members these days so you had to cherish it wherever it came from.

 

The truck roared to life when she turned the ignition and she drove down the driveway leaving a cloud of dust behind her. Kara took the shortcut through the paddock, opening three fences until she crossed the dry riverbed and found her way onto the Danvers land. The blonde skidded to a halt in front of their farmhouse, noting that Maggie’s Sheriff’s car was out front meaning she’d stayed the night. As Kara jumped out of the truck and approached the kitchen she heard the sound of clattering cutlery and murmuring voices meaning that the Danvers clan was up and about.

 

“Hey, Kara,” Maggie said with a smile as she opened the door and stepped inside the warm room.

 

The officer was decked out in her uniform already, gun strapped to her hip and a piece of toast stuffed in her mouth.

 

Kara waved her hello before pulling out a stool next to a sleepy Alex and smiling appreciatively as Eliza heaped a stack of eggs onto the plate that had been waiting for her.

 

“Thanks, Eliza,” she said before tucking her food.

 

“You’re off to work early,” Kara said as she watched Maggie bend down to press a quick goodbye kiss against Alex’s head.

 

“I got called in. Apparently, someone stole fenceposts from the Lord farm. Mr Lord demanded that I come to investigate immediately,” Maggie said with a raised eyebrow at the blonde.

 

Kara took another big bite, chewing loudly before she replied.

 

“Well, it’ll be a bit hard to prove someone took them. I don’t think you’re going to be scanning for DNA.”

 

The cop raised another eyebrow.

 

“Well, it will be a bit hard to prove, considering that nobody actually saw whoever took them. Plus, it’s not likely that someone is going to risk their neck over a few posts now are they? My money is,that idiot Max miscounted,” Maggie replied, eyeing Kara meaningfully.

 

“Still, if names are named I’ll have no choice but to investigate tomorrow. If someone did take them, they better be smart enough to have hidden them well. Especially considering Mr Lord will insist on coming with me to see for himself.”

 

The blonde nodded at that but didn’t otherwise reply. Kara was well aware of the dance she had been playing with the local law for the past few years regarding the small…. missing items from the Lord farm.

 

And occasionally the Daxam farm.

 

And if she was really daring and desperate, although she was wracked with guilt afterwards, the Grant farm.

 

Cat Grant was a tough woman, who seemed to keep her farm afloat and making money through sheer willpower, but she always seemed to have a soft spot for Kara. The blonde was well aware that the older woman knew about the items Kara liberated occasionally, and while she always called the police she never named the blue-eyed woman as a suspect.

 

Instead, she would turn up with no warning when she needed farmhands for the day to shear her sheep or ring some bulls. The expectation is that Kara not say a word and just get in the truck to work off the debt she had accrued. Logically, Kara knew that in their unspoken agreement she was still getting more out of it, but Cat never seemed to mind. As long as she came without protest each time Cat called and didn’t speak a word through the older woman’s sharp barbs no more action was taken on the matter.

 

But still, Maggie had been well on her tail when she first moved here after the town hired her. It was only after Alex and she had gotten together that the heat had died down on the blonde and the dimpled woman began to give her warnings ahead of time about ‘surprise’ inspections she would make.

 

Kara knew that Maggie wouldn’t do it at all if it wasn’t for Alex. The shorter woman allowed herself to be swayed by the fact that the blonde was her girlfriend’s almost pseudo-sister. After all, Kara knew if the Sheriff had her way the redhead and her would already be married.

 

And it would just be wrong to arrest family.

 

“Don’t worry. I’m sure if someone did happen to…. procure any items you won’t find them anywhere,” Kara answered before scooping up the last of her eggs.

 

Maggie gave her a curt nod, before waving her final goodbyes and exiting the house.

 

After the cruiser had pulled away from the farmhouse, Kara turned to smirk at the still sleepy redhead next to her.

 

“Couldn’t you just have had your sexual awakening with someone else? Why did it have to be the fuzz?”

 

Alex scowled at her, before spearing a bit of bacon on her own plate.

 

“Couldn’t you just stop stealing? Then we wouldn’t have to do this roundabout mess every other week and I could finally stop having to ask Maggie not to do her job.”

 

The blonde let out a laugh.

 

“You’re just pissed at me because I beat you in poker last week.”

 

Alex scowled down at her plate once more, stabbing at her cooked bacon even more viciously than before. It was with enough force to make even Kara raise an eyebrow, and the blonde turned to Eliza with a questioning eye.

 

The older woman gave her a significant look and the blonde immediately understood.

 

“Asked again last night, did she?” Kara questioned the redhead with sympathy.

 

Alex shook her head, before letting her fork drop to the table with a sigh.

 

“No… this morning.”

 

Kara let out a breath and placed a gentle hand over the redhead's.

 

“You know… you could always say yes.”

 

Alex scowled down at the table again, but the blonde could see the tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

 

“And then what? We live out here with my mother in lesbian bliss? With the whole area breathing down our necks in disapproval and scorn? Probably getting beaten up by the local idiots while Maggie loses her job? What a great life I have to offer.”

 

Kara let out a sigh, while Eliza gave her daughter a worried look.

 

As much as she wished it to be different for her friend, the blonde knew she was right. Alex’s already difficult life would increase tenfold if she made an open acknowledgement of her and Maggie’s relationship. The Vicky Donahue incident in high school had been bad enough, this would likely cause all hell to break loose. And these days, people in the area were just itching for someone to be angry at just so they could let loose all the emotion they’d been bottling up since they started going broke.

 

The alternative would be for Maggie and Alex to move away, probably to the city. Kara knew from Alex that it was an idea that the local cop had suggested more than once. But the blonde also knew that, just like herself, the redhead would have to be dragged from her home kicking and screaming.

 

There was no way that Eliza would be able to handle the place on her own, so she wouldn’t inevitably have to sell. And in the blink of an eye, every bit of history and memory that had been held in this land would go under the hammer.

 

So Alex endured it, while she and Maggie languished in a will they won’t they state. The blonde knew that the redhead was bracing herself for the inevitable of the cop deciding enough was enough. But Kara could see that Maggie was so head over heels in love that she’d continue doing what they were currently doing. The sheriff wouldn’t ask Alex to sacrifice the part of herself that was rooted in this place.

 

“Hey,” Kara said, rubbing soothing circles on the redhead’s hand. “It’ll be ok.”

 

Alex shuddered slightly, but repressed her tears the same way she always did, before pushing back her stool and clambering to her feet.

 

“You heading into town after this?” She asked, pulling on her jacket.

 

The blonde nodded, before thanking Eliza once again for the meal and standing to her own feet.

 

“Yeah. Need to pick up a few things.”

 

The redhead nodded, before following the blonde out the door and entering the truck on the passenger side. Oscar jumping over her with ease so he could settle on the island between them.

 

“I’ll come with you then. I need to get some stuff as well, and I want to know what time that meeting will be tonight.”

 

Kara let out a loud groan, before turning on the ignition and roaring say from the Danvers' farmhouse.

 

“Please tell me you aren’t going to that?” She asked.

 

Alex shrugged.

 

“Someone’s got to stand up for us little guys, lest they think they can press their advantage and force us to sell just because Lord and Edge want to.”

 

Kara grunted in reply, her thoughts turning broody.

 

“I still don’t even know why Luther Corp wants to buy up all this land anyway. Maybe for military prospects? GM plants?” Alex questioned.

 

The blonde snorted.

 

“Who gives a shit. Besides, it doesn’t matter why they want it. The fact is, we have no interest in selling.”

 

Alex shook her head, bouncing slightly in her seat when Kara hit a pothole in the road.

 

“They're offering well above what the bank is. A couple of people are going to be tempted. You’d be stupid not to be.”

 

Kara grunted once more, but in her heart, she knew that Alex was right. People around here desperately needed the money and it was enough for many of them to let their love for the land to slip away just so they didn’t go under so badly financially that they’d never come up for air again.

 

“We’ve just got to get diversified, is all,” Kara insisted. “That’s how we’re going to get out of this mess, diversification.”

 

Alex let out a sigh.

 

“All the same, I hear Luther Corp sent down their best to do the presentation tonight. She’s going to be hanging around for a while to inspect the land and make plans. She’s supposed to be pretty ruthless and really good at her job. And I’ve seen photos, she’s bloody good looking. Reckon she’ll charm some of these old farts right off their land.”

 

Kara’s fingers tightened on the vibrating steering wheel.

 

“I don’t care if she’s the FBI and Cleopatra rolled into one, she won’t get me to break. They can send all the corporate pricks they want, I’m not selling.”

 

Alex hummed.

 

“She’s the best of the best. Lena Luthor herself.”

 

The blonde glanced at her friend in surprise, before turning back to look at the road.

 

“Fancy that. I wouldn’t think a spoiled brat would deign to dirty her hands on a place like this.”

 

The redhead shrugged again.

 

“You never know with people, I guess.”

 

Kara thoughts turned broody once more.

 

Lena Luthor, younger sister to the company she worked for’s CEO. Probably loaded with money and the finest education money could buy to boot. She had probably done this job a hundred times easily. Making desperate farmers roll over as she swayed in with her money and power. Kara didn’t doubt that she was ruthless. In fact, she bet on it.

 

Still, she doubted that Lena Luthor had bet on her.

 

“Maybe I will go to this meeting tonight then,” Kara said easily.

 

Alex gave her a sidelong look.

 

“Just try not to attack her, please. I don’t think I’ll be able to convince Maggie not to arrest you for assault, and the Luthor lawyers will have a field day. Then you’ll definitely lose the farm.”

 

Kara gave Alex an annoyed look.

 

“I’m not going to attack her. I’ll just, metaphorically, kick her out on her ass. Make it very clear that this is one farmer she ain’t going to mess with.”

 

Alex grinned at her in agreement, and the blonde felt her spirits lift slightly.

 

Maybe tonight wouldn’t be so bad after all, it might even be fun to knock a big city hot shot down a couple of pegs.

 

“Lena Luthor,” she muttered to herself. “Meet Kara Zorel”


	2. Small Town Syndrome

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Half of this was written with one hand which was an interesting process for sure. Hope you enjoy :)
> 
> Songs for this chapter;
> 
> I Walk The Line - Johnny Cash 
> 
> 9 to 5 - Dolly Parton
> 
> Traveller - Chris Stapleton

Lena skidded her car to a stop, clouds of dust swirling past her completely unaware of the change of motion. She let out a yell and hit her hands against the steering wheel, the sound of her brother’s laughter echoing down the hands-free phone line.

 

“Lex, I’m trying to tell you that I’m hopelessly lost,” she said with a snarl, her ire only making her brother laugh harder.

 

“Why don’t you just use Google Maps?” He questioned.

 

Lena made a face and not for the first time that day wished she could slap him full across the face.

 

“That’s not even funny,” she growled out.

 

“Come on,” Lex began placatingly. “The place can’t be that backwater that it doesn’t even appear on Google Maps.”

 

She allowed a second a silence to pass between them before Lena responded in a caustic voice.

 

“Still not funny Lex.”

 

Lex let out a snort and his sister could practically hear the shrug he made at Lena's frustration.

 

“I don’t know what to tell you, Lena. Why don’t you just stop and ask for directions?”

 

A vein in Lena’s forehead twitched at that, her shoulders tensed with rage.

 

She spoke in a hiss that quickly transformed into a bellow.

 

“Because I’m in the middle of a FUCKING FIELD!”

 

Lex let out a low whistle.

 

“Ok, ok no need to yell,” he said placatingly, which did nothing to calm his sister’s frayed nerves.

 

“Why don’t you just call up the place that you’re staying at and ask them for directions?”

 

The brunette let out another long groan before letting her forehead rest against the steering wheel.

 

“Because the last time I did that,” she muttered. “I ended up a hundred miles from where I was supposed to. You know what these small town people are like. They know exactly who I am and why I’m coming. They do anything to fuck with me. Small town hospitality doesn’t exist towards the cold-hearted bitch who’s trying to steal their land.”

 

Lex let out a laugh, but it died when his sister didn’t respond and after a few seconds he let out a sigh.

 

“Well, I don’t know what else to tell you. I can’t exactly send in the army,” he rumbled lowly.

 

Lena rolled her eyes, straightened in her seat and eyed her brother’s name on the console with irritation.

 

“Well thanks for nothing, you’re a useless brother”

 

Lena jabbed the phone icon to hang up before Lex could reply, shifted the car out of park and adjusted the setting of the blessed air conditioner so it could do its work in the unbearable heat. 

 

In Lena’s experience when the towns she was heading to had no signs and was misplaced on every map, it wasn’t going to be a fun experience visiting it. 

 

The brunette had been doing this job far too long to be optimistic.

 

The green-eyed woman pressed her foot flat and roared away in her car, driving the same way she had been before and praying that there would be a least one identifying sign that she was heading in the right direction.

 

The town of Argo was to be her home base, so to speak, while she went about her business educating the locals about the benefits of selling their land to Luther Corp. It was either that or having their land be sold out from under them by the bank. 

 

It was for their benefit, as much as her family company’s. Luther Corp got the land before it went to a bidding war and the farmers got far more money than they ever would anywhere else. But it was inevitable that the people in these areas tended to have mixed reactions to her arrival. From the intel she had gathered, there were a set group of ‘richer’ farmers who were extremely pro selling. Lena used the word ‘richer’ loosely because while they may have more land than their neighbours, in reality, they were just as broke.

 

It was always the same. The ones that wanted to sell always did and the larger parcels of land were quickly prepared for whatever project Luther Corp had planned. Then the pressure would be on the smaller lots, their owners sensing that the inevitable was about to pass. 

 

Lena didn’t like her job overmuch. Getting egged by local teenagers and spat on by the occasionally illiterate farmer didn’t do much to warm her to the joys of country life. 

From her experience, people were assholes no matter where they came from. It was just that people in the country just tended to be more ignorant and resistant to progress.

 

But nothing stopped her getting that thrill of finally closing a deal and hammering out the details. Allowing her job to be finished and handed off to the next department head.

 

Then it was off home and back to the blessed city where the water was actually clean. Back to her wife, restaurants, theatre and culture that didn’t involve tipping cows.

 

The brunette had thought she was reaching the end of her time in this line of work. She was fully ready to stay in the city full time and take on a less stressful role in the company. Somewhere she could actually put her PhD to good use. 

 

Of course, everything had gone tits up when Veronica had decided to divorce her because Lena 'wasn’t in their marriage emotionally’. 

 

The court process had dragged out over two years and Lena was itching to do something constructive to channel the damage it had caused. So when this job came up, she had taken it with both hands. 

 

Still, the heat wasn’t helping her 'constructive' irritation.

 

As Lena drove down the road she became aware that she was fast approaching someone walking in the same direction as herself. The brunette slammed on the brakes just in time, swerving slightly on the gravel as she came to a stop. 

 

She rolled down the window to see a spluttering teenager wiping dust from her eyes.

 

Lena winced apologetically. 

 

“Hi there,” she said.

 

The girl gave her a glare and shook out her shirt slightly.

 

“Thanks for covering me with dust,” the teen responded sarcastically.

 

The brunette couldn’t help but blush slightly.

 

“Oh… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-“ she stuttered out, but the girl waved her away.

 

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” she muttered, before fixing her with a dead-eyed stare.

 

Lena shifted awkwardly on her seat, before speaking again.

 

“I was wondering if you could give me directions to Argo? I’ve gotten myself completely lost,” she asked.

 

The girl watched her appraisingly, her eyes darting over the expensive car quickly, before taking in Lena’s expensive outfit and finally resting on her face.

 

“You from the city?” She asked in a clipped voice.

 

Lena groaned internally, fully prepared for the onslaught of stupidity that occurred every time someone in there town's figured out who she was.

  
“Yeah,” she answered dryly.

 

The girl didn’t respond right away, instead giving the car another once-over before flashing Lena a grin.  


 

“Cool,” she finally said simply.

 

Lena blinked at the unusual reaction and a beat passed before she spoke again.

 

“…so, those directions?” 

 

The teen leaned closer so she could stick her head inside the window. Lena eyed her slightly warily but took in the girl’s brown hair and tanned face with an easy smile. The girl returned the smile, before pointing in the direction that Lena was headed.

 

“Just take you this road for about two miles, then there’ll be a gravel off road next to a rotting tree stump. You take that road for about three miles, then you turn left at the end. Another mile and you’ll be at Argo.”

 

She said it quickly, clearly assuming that Lena wouldn’t understand her rapid directions. But the older woman merely nodded along before looking at the girl curiously once she had finished speaking.

 

“Thanks,” she said in reply, her eyes looking over the girl’s scruffy outfit carefully. 

 

“By the way, are you ok walking out here by yourself?”

 

The girl nodded and tucked her thumbs in the loops or her belt.

 

“Yeah, I just stayed with a friend up the road last night.”

 

The girl's face flickered before clearing when she clearly came to a decision about something.

 

“Actually, would you mind giving me a lift back into town?” The teen asked. “That way I can make sure you don’t get lost and I’ll be back in time for lunch.”

 

Lena blinked, immediately uncomfortable with the idea.

 

But she could hardly be rude, considering the girl had given her directions and would undoubtedly spread anything she observed about Lena all over town.

 

_Might be a good idea to start these things off on a good note for once_.

 

“Uh, sure,” she finally answered.

 

The teen grinned, before yanking the door open and pulling herself inside. She rolled up the window and closed her eyes as the full effect of the air con hit her in the face. After a few seconds, she blinked and looked around the car’s interior appreciatively. She stuck out her hand with a grin.

 

“My name’s Ruby.”

 

The brunette gave the girl’s hand an unenthusiastic shake, before letting it drop and allowing the car to drive forward once more.

 

“Mine’s Lena,” she mumbled out.

 

After a few seconds of silence, Ruby spoke once again in a conversational voice.

 

“So... you must be that big fancy exec that Luthor Corp sent down to buy up all the land.”

 

Lena glanced at the teen quickly before refocusing on the road.

 

“Well, I wouldn’t put it exactly like that, but yes. I’m the head of acquisitions,” she replied.

 

Ruby raised her eyebrow and gave Lena a discerning look.

 

“Isn't that just a fancy way of saying you buy up all the land?”

 

The older brunette’s mouth tightened at the derision in Ruby’s voice, but she didn’t respond in kind. Figuring that she best save any shitty retorts she could make for the occupants of the town with at least a legal drinking age.

 

There was a lull in the conversation until Lena made the first turn that Ruby indicated onto an even dustier and bumpier road. After the first pothole, the teen spoke once again. 

 

“Thanks for giving me a lift, by the way. It was gonna be a long walk back to town otherwise.”

 

Lena pondered not replying, her lingering irritation at the girl’s previous 'almost' accusation rubbing her mind before she decided to let it go.

 

Holding onto petty grudges seemed to be a problem since her divorce, at least that’s what her therapist told her.

 

“Why were you walking?” She asked.

 

Ruby looked delighted that she was being talked to and Lena felt an involuntary sense of pride at being to cause of someone’s happiness for once, however small.

 

“Everyone walks around here,” the teen responded, her fingers lightly running across the dashboard reverently. 

 

“Well, the kids usually have bikes," she continued."But mine literally fell apart from rust. My friend was going to drive me back in her truck, but her parents made her work this morning. I could either hang around and help, or walk back myself.”

 

She said it in such a blase tone and Lena was once again left pondering the oddities of life outside of the city. 

 

Outside of her own life really, where her parents would never so much as let her have a turn around the garden without a bodyguard let alone risk her complexion by walking miles under a baking sun at midday.

 

“How old are you?” Lena asked.

 

Ruby smiled.

 

“Thirteen.”

 

The businesswoman raised an eyebrow at that.  


 

“Is your friend old enough to drive?” She questioned in a confused voice.

 

Ruby looked at her like she was an idiot.

 

“Everyone’s old enough to drive around here.”

 

Lena once again chalked it up as an experience she would never understand. Allowing underage children to drive around unsupervised on dangerous roads, but firmly standing against any sort of relevant sexual education was yet another quirk about redneck life Lena had yet to appreciate apparently.

 

“Cool,” was how she responded, instead of voicing her true thoughts.

 

Ruby didn’t appear unperturbed by her monosyllabic, merely looking more excited and leaning forward in her seat.

 

“It must be pretty awesome to live in the city. You must make heaps of money to afford a car like this. I’ve always wanted to live in the city. My mom wanted to go to the city for college, but she got pregnant with me. I reckon she should have left though, this town is pretty boring. But it’s home, you know? So, how long are you going to be staying in Argo?”

 

Lena blinked uncomfortably at the rapid-fire words. Oversharing had never been her forte.

 

Hell, sharing had never been her forte. 

 

“Hopefully not too long,” she responded in an even voice, already envisioning the money she was going to get when this job was done.

 

Money that her ex wouldn’t be able to touch.

 

Ruby didn’t appear happy with her answer, crossing her arms over her chest with a moody frown.

 

“Jeez, don’t sound too excited. Argo’s boring as hell, but it doesn’t suck that much,” she spat out.

 

Lena was startled by the venom in the girl’s voice, yanking her from her daydreams of selling Veronica’s record collection and back towards the now furious girl next to her.

 

“I didn’t mean to-“

 

Ruby cut her off with a hand wave, reminding Lena oddly of herself at the same age.

 

“Whatever.”

 

Another few minutes passed, for once the silence becoming awkward enough for Lena to want to fill it with words.

 

“Look,” she tried to say in her best apologetic voice. "I’m sorry about what I said. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

 

Ruby snorted, tracing random patterns on her leg.

 

“But you totally think our town sucks,” she replied.

 

Lena hesitated before responding. Despite what people may believe, Lena wasn’t a liar. Not even to thirteen-year-olds who were more trouble than they were worth.

 

“In my experience,” she said lightly. “The people in the towns I visit tend to be slightly... hostile towards me.”

 

She expected an angry retort and was surprised when the girl snorted with laughter.

 

“You’re right,” she chuckled. “This town is going to suck for you then.”

 

Lena’s eyes narrowed at that.

 

“Well that’s just great,” she muttered.

 

Ruby’s good cheer returned quickly.  


 

“Still, you are the most interesting thing to happen to this place since Cat Grant’s cow walked into the general store. I reckon I can convince Mom to have you around to dinner. She’s pretty chill about the whole ‘buying up the land’ thing.”

 

Lena was about to answer when she turned a corner and noticed the first signs of a town in the distance. It looked the same as every small and broke place Lena had visited before. 

 

An Elementary school on the outskirts, with a yellowing football field and a series of shabby classrooms. Undoubtedly, the older kids attended high school at one of the bigger towns in the area. 

 

The road became more even as they drew closer, eventually turning from gravel into bitumen. The cluster of buildings looked shabby, run down in places but clearly well loved. Chances were, once Luther Corp owned the area that the local shops would close down completely.

 

Still, the bar’s always seemed to survive even if the regulars changed.

 

Lena slid her car to a stop, parked behind a busted up pickup truck and turned to the girl she had driven, with a hopefully non-threatening smile. 

 

“That sounds… cool,” she finally said, responding to Ruby’s earlier words.

 

The girl grinned at that, before darting out of the car with a speed that only children seemed to have.

 

“See ya!” She said, before slamming the door, making Lena wince. 

 

The brunette turned the key off slowly and took a moment in the quiet of her car to brace herself for the oncoming heat once she opened the door. After a deep breath, she unlocked her seatbelt and stepped out into the blistering air, the sudden change in temperature giving her a head rush. 

 

Lena could already feel unfriendly eyes on her in this sleepy town as she unpacked her suitcase quickly and locked her car, rolling over to the place she was staying, recognising it by it’s worn away sign.

 

The Bar

 

Lena snorted internally. At least it was honest and easy to spot.

 

The second she entered the bar the low rumble of the few voices in the place died. She looked around to see a few suspicious older looking farmers eyeing her up. 

 

She walked towards what seemed to be the only worker, a curly haired bartender wiping glasses.

 

“Hello,” she said quickly, startling the man so much he almost dropped his glass. 

 

“My name is Lena Luthor. I booked a room?” She questioned.

 

The man gave her a nervous smile, letting the glass rest on the bar before his eyes gave her a quick once over.

 

“You the property developer then?” He asked with a grin.

 

Lena resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

 

“Yes,” she responded dryly. “And I booked a room.”

 

The man seemed to sense her impatience, flushing slightly and scuttling around the bar towards an old desk set up by a flight of stairs. He rummaged around in its drawers for a few seconds before speaking once again.  


 

“Sure,” he mumbled during his search. “I’ll get the key and show you it.”

 

After half a minute, Lena’s irritation growing, the man looked up at her with an apologetic grin.

 

“You’ve stirred up a bit of dust coming in,” he said, nodding through the window and towards Lena’s car.

 

“Especially in that fancy beast.”

 

Lena didn’t respond and the man clearly sensing a lack of interest in conversation doubled his efforts before finally producing the key. He gestured up the stairs and made to grab her suitcase, but halted his attempts when she arched an eyebrow at him and did it herself.

 

He half-ran up the stairs, stumbling in the last step and righting himself with a flush. They walked out onto a narrow landing with only three doors and the bartender walked her to the second door, unlocking it quickly. 

 

Lena took a step inside and struggled to let out a groan.

 

The room was simple. One single bed, chest of drawers and a folded towel on the mattress. It had been painted recently, but it was a bad job with splatters of it dotted over the floor and window. It had a musty smell and on closer inspection, it seemed like the window frame had been painted shut. 

 

All in all, a pretty crappy place to be spending weeks if not months of the foreseeable future. 

 

The bartender was hovering in the doorway with a nervous expression on his face and Lena felt an involuntary stab of pity for the man. 

 

“I’m just here to do my job, Mr..?” She questioned. 

 

The man startled at that and gave her another shaky smile.

 

“Oh, name’s Winn Schott,” he said, his fingers fidgeting. “I’m the help around here, I don’t own the place.”

 

Lena nodded, her eyes darting around the room sceptically once more.

 

“Do you have wifi?” She asked, half sensing the answer.

 

The man shook his head.

 

“Errr, not in the bar… sorry. I keep telling my boss to get it. Trust me, I’m super into tech but it’s pretty hard out here to be a nerd-“

 

She cut off his verbal diarrhoea, giving him a tight smile and pulling out a tip from her pocket for the man. He took it uncertainly as if he had never seen cash before.

 

“Well, thank you for showing me to my room Mr Schott,” she finally said, hoping it would prompt him into an action of some sort.

 

He shuffled forward, holding out the key for her to take.

 

“Oh…right, well here’s your key. There are only two bedrooms up here and it’s a shared toilet and shower at the end of the hall.”

 

Lena grimaced.

 

Sharing bathrooms were for girls at camp.

 

Winn watched her expression and rushed to reassure her.

 

“But there’s no one in the other room so you’ll have the place all to yourself!”

 

He shuffled out the door after she failed to respond only turning with the last attempt at cheer.

 

“So, yeah. Bye…. Oh, and welcome to Argo!” He said, before running and stumbling down the stairs.

 

She closed the door quickly, moving to see if the lock actually worked. After Lena was satisfied that it did, she rolled her suitcase further into the shoebox room noticing that the floorboards were on a slant as it continued to roll without effort. The air in the room had instantly become stuffy when the door had closed and Lena let out a groan when the ceiling fan she tried to turn on didn’t work.

 

This was going to be a long stay.

 

After a minute she pulled out her phone and pressed the first speed-dial number, her brother answering with a rumbling laugh. 

 

“I take it you found the town then?” He teased.  


 

“Lex, this is by far the worst place you’ve ever sent me to.”

 

His next laugh was full bellied and it aggravated a building headache she had growing behind her eyes from the heat.

 

“My darling sister, you say that about every place you go.”

 

She took off one of her heels with a groan and threw it into the corner of the room. 

 

“This is the last time, Lex,” she growled out. “I swear I’m not doing this again. It’s always the same. Mistrustful and angry people, the kiss arses and the ones that look at me like I’m an alien. If just one person eggs me this time, I’m coming back straight away.”

 

Lex snorted at her threatening tone, knowing full well that she was the one who asked for this assignment in the first place.

 

“Lena, I couldn’t have you rampaging through the city anymore,” he said indulgently. "The last two years have been hell here.”

 

The brunette scowled down at the cheap cotton sheets on her rented bed.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry that it’s been so terrible for you,” she replied sarcastically.  


 

“Look, you got divorced,” her brother said in a matter of fact voice. 

 

“Shit happens, you move the fuck on. A little jaunt in the countryside, focusing all that lethal rage on something constructive is just what you need to get going again. Besides, you were the one who first wanted to work in property acquisition. I told you to stay in the lab. You could be developing self-driving cars with the best of them right now.”

 

Lena let out a groan and fell back against the bed, staring up at the cracked ceiling. 

 

“Yes, I may have asked to do this job originally, but I’ll be honest and say that I envisioned hostile takeovers of companies, not walking in cow shit,” she answered.

 

“Hardly any cows out there, little sister,” Lex drawled in a mock southern accent that made Lena smile slightly. “Remember your homework, there’s a drought going on.”

 

Lena let out a puff of air, her tongue growing dry.

 

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” she muttered. “I’m stuck in a fucking prison cell and the ceiling fan doesn’t even work.”

 

Lex laughed again and Lena was reminded of how much her brother loved to annoy her as a child.

  
“Well, I best leave you to it then,” he replied. “Knowing you, you’ll want to fix it straight away.”

 

“I hate you,” she muttered out, groaning once more as the line disconnected.

 

Lex was right though, Lena was in a foul mood and had been for years now. It had only been getting worse lately though and she did need to do something not related to her divorce while not being surrounded by people she worked with. 

 

Even if the fan didn’t work in her room.

 

Lena stood to her feet and moved to exit the room and walk down the stairs. When she reached the bottom level she observed the bartender from earlier reading over paperwork at the desk. She startled him once more when she called his name.

“Mr Schott?”

 

Winn jumped slightly and looked up at her with wide eyes before his shoulders relaxed.

 

“What can I do for you, Lena?”

 

The brunette scowled at the familiar use of her first name.

 

“It’s Ms Luthor, actually,” she said tightly, the other man’s face losing a degree of colour at the ice in her voice.

 

“Oh….” He answered unsteadily, staring down at his shoes.

 

Lena rolled her eyes and let out a breath.

 

“The fan in my room doesn’t work,” she stated flatly.

 

The man looked up at her again.

 

“Yeah, only the ones in the bar work,” he stuttered out.

 

Lena’s glare only intensified at his words.

 

“Well, I’d like it fixed,” she growled.

 

Winn shuffled behind the desk and began to rearrange paperwork in hasty stacks.

 

“Oh… umm, I actually…. Well, you see it’s actually something to do with the wiring. And I’m pretty good with tech, but I’m not really an electrician.”

 

The man looked at her with a scared face as if he was worried she was going to explode at his words. Instead, all Lena felt was increasing irritation and the throb behind her eyes increased tenfold.

 

“Can’t you call one from in town?” She asked.

 

The man gave her an incredulous look as if she had just asked if he could buy the moon for her instead of fixing a fan.

 

“People just kind of do their own around here, Ms Luthor,” he replied.

 

Lena clenched her fist hard and took a deep breath, cursing the problems that plagued small towns. Usually, the most annoying problems being the ones that the occupants of the town found no fault with.

 

“And how does that solve my issue, Mr Schott?” She asked in a slow and saccharinely sweet voice.

 

Winn hesitated, eyeing her warily.

 

“…it doesn’t?” He responded with a questioning tone.

 

Lena groaned out loud this time, leaning forward and into the man’s personal space.

 

“Clearly this isn’t going to be resolved by you, Mr Schott,” she said, her voice full of annoyance at the situation. 

 

“Is there anywhere in town I can go to fix it myself?”

 

The man blinked at her in surprise and Lena wasn’t shocked at his quick appraising glance. Most people didn’t expect a ‘corporate type’ like herself to be able to actually fix a fan. 

 

“Well, you can try the general store, Ms Luthor,” he said hesitantly. “But, like I said we know what the problem is and you’d have to strip back all the wiring just to-“

 

She cut him off with a wave, realising that regardless of how it was done, she was still going to be the only one to do anything about fixing this problem.

 

“Thank you,” she said simply, before turning on her heel and exiting the bar. 

 

Unwelcome eyes followed her down the street as she made her way towards the general store that doubled as the rural supply shop. She pushed inside easily and was happy to note that at least this place seemed to have decent air conditioning. 

 

The shop was packed with farm gear. With sections for specialised feed, powdered milk, fence posts and barbed wire. Jumbled together with harnesses and signs advertising different brands of agricultural machinery. It was clean though and well cared for. Clearly whoever owned it took great pride in it. Being probably the only supplier of essential items for the people in the area for hundreds of miles, the owner must be one of the few people making money around here. 

 

Lena strode towards the counter, brushing past a redheaded woman whose eyes lingered on Lena’s shoes judgementally before exiting the shop without a backwards look. The broad-shouldered man behind the counter was watching the woman who left with a frown, but the second his eyes slipped to Lena his face transformed with a friendly grin.

 

Before he could say a word, Lena spoke abruptly. 

 

“Do you have portable fans? I’m staying in a room above the bar and the ceiling one isn’t working.”

 

The man didn’t seem phased by her agitated tone, instead, his kind smile widened which irritated Lena further.

 

In the brunette’s opinion, goals would be achieved much faster if people negated with pointless pleasantries in life. 

 

“You must be the woman from Luthor Corp. We were expecting you,” the man replied, not answering Lena’s question.

 

The brunette’s forehead was starting to pound dangerously at that. Just once, she wished she could talk to someone in this town without them informing here about who she was first.

 

“Why?” She questioned in an acidic tone. “Do you have telepathic abilities that let you know I was in desperate need of a fan?”

 

The man did the unexpected and let out a low bellied laugh at her words, instantly reminding the brunette of the way her brother successfully navigated her moods.

 

“Not in so many words, Ms Luthor,” he said easily, Lena feeling a purr of satisfaction that he hadn’t tried to call her by her first name. 

 

“My name is Jonn Jones. I’m the owner and operator here. Unfortunately, we don’t sell portable fans-”

 

Lena groaned.

 

“Of course you don’t,” she muttered out.

 

“-but I’d be more than happy to lend you my personal A/C and get someone to instal it in your window.”

 

The brunette had already opened her mouth prepared to launch into a rant about the backwards nature of service in Argo, consequences be damned, when the man’s words shut her up.

 

Jonn was looking at her expectantly, the brunette’s mouth gaping at his kind and polite offer.

 

“Oh…. thank you,” she said in a weak voice.

 

The man eyed her for a moment, his eyes scanning briefly before he reached into the mini-fridge behind the counter and pulled out a pitcher of water, pouring it into a clean glass he magically produced and offering it to her with a smile. 

 

She took it with a low murmur of thanks, the cool water hitting her dry throat with a splash and instantly lessening her headache. After she emptied the glass the shopkeeper took it back with another smile.

 

“I won’t be able to have someone bring it over until tomorrow, unfortunately,” Jonn said easily.

 

Lena shook her head, her bad mood from earlier considerably subdued by the kind man's offer.  


 

“No, that’s ok,” she replied, before offering him what she hoped was a smile. “Thank you, again.”

 

The man wiped the water stain her glass had left on the bench away.

 

“No problem, Ms Luthor,” he said gently. “Now, is there anything else I can help you with today?”

 

Lena hesitated, before nodding.

 

“I was wondering if you knew anywhere in town where I might be able to access the internet?” She asked.

 

The man thought for a second before replying.

 

“The local library is probably the only place,” he answered. “It doubles as the elementary school library. Would you like directions?”

 

The thought of having to do her work sitting in an undersized chair surrounded by finger paintings and children held no appeal for Lena. But she would just have the grit her teeth and bear it if it was all Argo could offer her.

 

“That’s just… typical,” she grumbled, taking a step back from the counter with a grimace. “And no, I drove past the school on my way in.”

 

The man gave her another friendly smile, apparently non plussed by her bad attitude towards his town.

 

“Welcome to Argo, Ms Luthor,” he said easily. “We may not be the most advanced place in the world, but we’ve got a lot of heart if you know where to look.”

 

The brunette highly doubted that would be enough of a pitch for her to run home to National City and proclaim to Lex that he had to set his eyes somewhere else, but she couldn’t fault the man for wanting to paint his home in the best light. 

 

Even if, from what Lena had seen, the place seemed boring and sleepy at best.

 

“I’m sure,” she replied easily. “Thank you for your help, Mr Jones.”

 

The man nodded once more, calling after her as she exited the building.

 

“It was my pleasure, Ms Luthor.”

 

* * *

 

“Hello, can I help you?” The friendly looking librarian said as Lena entered through the double doors.

 

The businesswoman looked around the library with a flat expression, taking in the posters of children books with a raised eyebrows. Walking amongst these lows shelves must make adults feel like giants, she thought. 

 

A little girl brushed past her, making Lena stumble slightly. She frowned down at the child who barely gave her a backward look before fluttering over to a reading corner with the rest of her class. The green-eyed woman’s eyes flickered over to the librarian who was still watching her silently. 

 

Lena took a step forward and spoke slowly so she didn’t interrupt the children’s reading session.

 

“I’d like to use your wifi,” she asked quietly.

 

The woman gave her nodded and gestured for Lena to take a seat wherever she’d like. 

 

“Oh, no worries. The speed's pretty slow, but just go right ahead and connect.”

 

Lena looked around at the low tables and the uncomfortable looking stools beneath them, briefly wondering if she would be able to park her car close enough to the library to get a signal. Hoping that the blistering heat would be worth it actually being able to sit without fear of interruption. 

 

“What’s the password?” She asked distractedly.

 

“We don’t have one.”

 

Lena turned back to the seated woman and arched an eyebrow.

 

“You don’t have a password?” She questioned.

 

The woman gave her a funny look.

 

“No, why would we?”

 

Lena felt like scoffing but restrained herself from the action.

 

“It doesn’t matter,” she answered, before giving the woman a nod and moving to walk away. 

 

She was stopped when the other woman stood to her feet and reached out a hand, which Lena had an automatic reaction to shy away from. The librarian withdrew it with an apologetic look, before coughing awkwardly.

 

“If you don’t mind me asking Ms Luthor,” she said.“I was wondering what time the town hall meeting will be tonight? There seems to be some confusion around here and I figured I’d be best getting the information straight from the horse's mouth.”

 

A part of Lena felt like screaming at apparently being the centre of all this small-town gossip. 

 

“So you know who I am?” She said with low fury. “What? Did someone put up flyers around town with my face on them?”

 

The other woman blanched at the venom in Lena’s voice and the green-eyed woman internally chastised herself. It was hardly the poor woman’s fault that everybody in this place seemed to know her every action. Twitter had nothing when it came to the speed that news travelled in country towns. 

 

“No, Ms Luthor!” The librarian protested with a pale face. “It’s just… we don’t see many new faces around here and you were expected.”

 

Lena let out a heavy breath.

 

“To answer your question,” she said. “I’m unsure of the exact time. I’m supposed to be meeting a Mr Edge at the bar at two o’clock to discuss the specifics.”

 

The woman’s eyebrows hit her hairline at the man’s name and her embarrassed expression changed into an assessing look. After a few seconds, her mouth upturned into a grin and a satisfied glint grew in her eye. 

 

“Morgan Edge? Well, good luck,” she said with a laugh.

 

Lena wasn’t quite sure what the other woman found so amusing, but shook it off and didn’t respond. The other woman hovered awkwardly for a second before giving her a half wave and sitting back down. 

 

“My name’s Sam, by the way. Just ask if you need anything.”

 

Lena gave Sam a curt nod.

 

“Thank you,” she said before walking away.

 

* * *

 

The second Lena descended into the bar on the ground floor, marginally refreshed after her shower, a grey-haired man with a slick smile strode towards her with his hand extended to shake.

 

“Lena! Fantastic to finally meet you,” he exclaimed so loudly, that the other patrons looked at him with annoyance.

 

The brunette’s eyes grazed over his figure and plastered smile and felt a sinking sense of satisfaction that her assessment of the man over the phone was correct.

 

Slimy.

 

“Mr Edge,” she answered easily.

 

The man gestured her towards a nearby table he had been seated at, even going so far as to pull out her chair for her making Lena give him a sceptical look. Hoping to God that he didn’t think mock chivalry would make her swoon. 

 

“Please call me Morgan, Lena,” he said with another blinding grin that set Lena’s teeth on edge.

 

“I prefer Ms Luthor… Mr Edge,” she replied in an even voice, watching his reaction carefully to her words.

 

Something flickered in his eyes and his lip curled for a microsecond before his face smoothed out and back into a smile. 

 

“You know, you don’t have to stay in this place,” he said in a dismissive voice, loud enough for the patrons to raise their heads again and for Winn to look up from his spot behind the bar. 

  
  
“As I said to you on the phone,” he continued. “I am more than willing to put you up myself.”

 

This time as he glanced around the bar, his gaze settled fully on Winn while he smiled smugly.

 

“I assure you, the facilities are far more amenable.”

 

Lena watched as Winn’s face flushed and could hear the sharp intake of breath from the other customers as they waited for her to reply.

 

After a few seconds, her own irritation began to rise once more. This time she felt more justified than she had during the previous incidents of the day.

 

“Thank you for your offer… again…but I’m perfectly fine here,” she said simply in response.

 

The man looked ready to protest, but obviously thought better of it and sat back in his chair.

 

“Of course, Lena. I understand the need for one’s own… space.”

 

The stared at each other for a few seconds silently, before Lena pressed forward with the conversation.

 

“So, Mr Edge,” she drawled out. “If you could be so kind as to tell me the exact arrangements for tonight. I’d like a chance to set up my presentation.”

 

The man’s face morphed back into a satisfied smile. 

 

“Unfortunately, the previous plan to host the event at the town hall has been changed. There was some… resistance to it. A dear friend of mine, Rhea Daxam, had graciously agreed to host the event on her estate instead.”

 

Lena’s annoyance grew at the man’s obviousness. 

 

And the fact that she was being treated like some pass to upper-class life for the people he wanted her to meet.

 

“Event? Mr Edge, this is merely a presentation, not an event,” she replied with a growl, her unhappiness with the change in circumstances clearly evident on her face.

 

The man waved his hand placatingly.

 

“Of course Ms Luthor, I understand. It’s just as you’re in town anyway, we thought we might double it up as a welcome party of sorts. So you can meet all the important people.”

 

He said it in a condescending tone as if Lena needed to be lectured on manners and etiquette. The brunette was not impressed with the older man’s tone in the least. 

 

It took all her effort for her relatively short temper not to snap, which would probably make her throw her shoe at his head and tear him to shreds verbally. 

 

“As much as you’re soiree sounds fascinating, Mr Edge,” she said with a raised eyebrow. “I’m far more interested in speaking at a public forum like previously had been arranged. Everyone in the area has a right to hear what I have to say and ask questions.”

 

Out of the corner of her eye, Lena noted that Winn, who was pretending not to listen in, smiled at her comment and a satisfied murmur seemed to rumble through the other patrons.

 

Edge, however, frowned like a scolded child.

 

“All the locals are welcome to come, Ms Luthor,” he said petulantly. “Open to all. Everyone in the area already knows about the change of venue.”

 

Lena still wasn’t happy, but at least she had made he position clear.

 

“Very well, since I’ve clearly got no opportunity to rearrange it, we’ll go ahead with the current plan. But I am not impressed and will expect nothing but professionalism in the future.”

 

The man’s face turned a shade darker at her words and his eyes became thunderous. Clearly, he wasn’t the type of person who was used to being told off for his behaviour.

 

Edge watched her with a predatory glint, his mouth curving into a snarl.

 

“You know, around here Ms Luthor, you would do well to remember who your friends are,” he said in a low rumble.

 

Lena arched an eyebrow at his thinly veiled threat as if the man actually held any power over her.

 

“I wasn’t aware I had any,” she said plainly.

 

The rich farmer face returned to a normal colour and the oily smile returned to his face.

 

“Ms Luthor, I wasn’t lying when I said that there has been resistance around here,” he said in an easy voice. 

 

“You’d be advised to keep those of us in favour of this plan on your side. The farmers of Argo make up for their illiteracy with righteous indignation. Nothing to be too concerned about though, minor annoyances at best.”

 

The man had a few angry eyes in the room on him at that comment and Lena filed that information away for later. There was obviously a clear divide between the local’s opinions of each other. 

 

“In my experience,” she said flatly. “Minor inconveniences have a tendency to derail projects.”

 

* * *

 

The second Lena had stepped out of her car, Edge appeared on the porch of the beautiful farmhouse next to an impeccably dressed middle-aged woman. As she approached the pair, she noted the woman’s cold eyes on her, reminding Lena of the time she went cage diving with sharks.

 

Edge stepped forward and towards Lena, gesturing to the older woman with a deferential nod.

 

“Rhea, may I introduce Ms Lena Luthor.”

 

The woman gave her a tight-lipped smile and held her hand out to shake.

 

“Lena, a pleasure to meet you,” she purred out, the honeyed way she spoke the words still doing nothing to lessen to flicker of anger Lena felt at being referred to by her first name from a near stranger.

 

“Mrs Daxam,” she replied with emphasis, returning the handshake. “If you would be so kind as to tell me where I can set up for this evening?”

 

The woman shook away her request and gestured to the man standing behind her on the porch.

 

“Plenty of time for all that,” she answered with a smile as the man stepped to her side. “In the meantime, my son, Michael, would be more than happy to show you around the property. He is, after all, the same generation as you. Best able to relate our family interests.”

 

Lena’s patience was razor thin now and truthfully the only thing stopping her from turning on her heel, getting back into her car and driving off was the fact that she had already committed to closing this deal. 

 

And Lena didn’t make commitments she couldn’t keep.

 

The brunette eyed the young man critically. He appeared to be about her age with a no doubt 'endearing to other’s' frat-boy look. Complete with a beard that he no doubt, thought made him look manly, but on his young face seemed completely out of place. He was smiling at her with a silly grin, his eyes lingering on her chest for a few seconds more than a cursory glance would generally permit. Lena instantly resigned herself to the fact that she was supposed to be ‘charmed’ by Rhea’s son, but if they were half as clever as they thought they were Edge and the Daxam matriarch would have done their research like she had.

 

Realising that she was about as likely to fall in love with Michael Daxam as she was to become the Pope.

 

“Very well,” she said snippily.

 

Rhea and Edge smiled in unison before the older woman directed her son to Lena’s car quickly.

 

“Michael, please help Lena unpack her things before taking her around the property lines.”

 

Lena instantly protested, even as the man brushed past her.

 

“Please, Mrs Daxam, I am more than capable of unpacking-“

 

The woman cut her off.

 

“Nonsense, it’s the least we can do,” Rhea said, before turning her back to the businesswoman and walking with Edge back into the house.

 

Lena didn’t protest again to Rhea again, because man managed to almost drop the projector she had packed.

 

“Mr Daxam, can you please be careful with that?” She hissed.

 

The man looked up at her with surprise, before jostling the projector into one hand and picking up her portable screen with the other. 

 

“Call me, Mike please,” he said with a wink that made Lena’s stomach curdle. “Mr Daxam makes me think of my father.”

 

_Yeah, but now I’m just going to call you it on principle. Might be about time you learned what it’s like to be uncomfortable in life._

 

She didn’t respond aloud though, keeping the thoughts to herself. 

 

After the pair had managed to unpack to remains of Lena’s equipment without incident, Mike more of a hindrance than a help, the man brought her over to a jacked up and shiny RTV, complete with a roll cage and seatbelts.

 

Even though she was unhappy with the way she had been ordered around, Lena kept her eyes open as the man drove her around the property. Lena may never have worked on a farm before, but the brunette had been doing this job for a long time and was well able to assess the quality of the land the company was interested in buying. She already knew from the initial reports and by driving in herself that this place was in poor shape. The lack of water had drained the area’s value. 

 

No water meant no stock, no crops and no money. 

 

Still, the Daxam place looked well cared for. Everything was in good shape and there was a smattering of farmhands about the place.

 

But Lena knew from her own financial investigations that it was mostly for show. In her opinion, the owners more obsessed with hiding their dire financial straights were the most eager to butter her up. Sure, they liked to pretend she was the one who needed them but when push came to shove, Lena was the only one with money.

 

After Mike had pointed out the various key property points and was driving them both back to the farmhouse, he attempted at casual conversation.

 

“So… how long do you think you’ll need to convince the people around here to sell?” Mike questioned.

 

Lena shook her head at his words.

 

“It’s not my job to convince anyone of anything, Mr Daxam. I’m merely here to best display the interests of Luther Corp.”

 

It was a stock standard company line, but it was true nonetheless. She wasn’t here to start fires, though inevitable her arrival always did. 

 

But the fact of the matter was the same. 

 

Despite what the gossiping locals believed, it wasn’t personal.

 

Mike parked outside the barn, skidding to a halt before turning to her with a smile.

 

“Well anyone who matters around here is on your side, Lena,” he said easily before leaning in as if he was telling her a secret. “

 

“Between the two of us, the rest of the idiots around here will soon be persuaded.”

 

Lena couldn’t help but laugh at his haughty tone, a poor imitation of his mother’s.

 

“Are you looking after the local’s best interests then, Mr Daxam?” She mocked.

 

The intention of the words obviously went over his head. 

 

He puffed out his chest and Lena could swear she saw him flex his arms.

 

“I’m pretty on top of it,” he boasted.

 

The brunette watched him with an amused expression. While he didn’t seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed, he also didn’t seem intentionally mean-spirited. All in all, just another ignorant and overgrown farm boy. 

 

“I’m sure you are,” she answered with a smirk.

 

* * *

 

 

The meeting went as well as could be expected. She did her standard speech and projections for the future the locals would be facing if they didn’t sell. Reiterating how farmers in areas Luther Corp had bought ended up benefiting from selling. How the company ended up bringing jobs to the area for people who didn’t want to move completely. 

 

Not as many people came as she had hoped, but at least all the main players had. The brunette had been introduced to Mr Daxam, who didn’t hold a candle to his fierce wife. 

 

The Lord's, the youngest son striking the brunette as a more cunning version of Mike. His eyes too tended to linger on her figure, but he had listened to her presentation with laser focus. His face lighting up at the figures about how much his family stood to make from the sale. 

 

Cat Grant, another key player, was just as formidable as Rhea. But unlike the cold woman, Grant played her cards a lot closer to her chest, Lena finding it very difficult to get a read on her intentions. 

 

The rest of the small crowd was a smattering of locals from smaller farms and local shops. Lena spotted Jonn in the crowd, talking avidly with what looked like the local sheriff as well as the redheaded woman that had been in his shop earlier in the day. An older blonde woman stood with them occasionally, when she wasn’t floating around the room talking to the other small-time farmers and Cat Grant. 

 

But once Lena's speech started, the battle lines had clearly been drawn. 

 

Edge, the Lord’s and the Daxam’s encircled the room like vultures, forcing the clearly agitated smaller farmers to sit on the chairs provided, giving the pro-sale people the immediate height advantage in the situation. Lena observed it with a clinical eye, noting how Cat Grant sat down as well but towards the back where her expression would be harder to read. 

 

There were a few unhappy murmurings throughout the speech, but it was only towards the tail end that Lena spotted a new woman enter at the back of the room. The brunette was thrown off the pace of her speech as she took in the woman’s form.

 

The young blonde was flushed, clearly still dressed in her work clothes with gloves stuffed in her belt. But her scruffy demeanour wasn’t the thing that caused Lena to almost trip. The woman had levelled her with a cold blue-eyed glare the instant she entered to room and it rooted Lena to the floor. The dirty farmer, because what else could she be, was stunning. It wasn’t often that Lena indulged in labourer fantasies, but this one could have walked right out of the recesses of her mind. Long blonde hair that was tied back messily, stings of it plastered to her face with sweat and a body that clearly packed a lot of muscle.

 

But the most interesting thing about her arrival had been the change in the atmosphere within the room. 

 

The ‘richer’ elements of it instantly gave the blonde woman dirty looks. Max Lord Jr, in particular, turning a deep shade of red, while his father’s hand gripped his shoulder to hold him back from moving forward. 

 

Cat Grant, however, smiled for the first time that evening which gave Lena pause.

 

Kara gravitated towards Jonn, the redhead and the older blonde seated in the middle of the crowd. Before she could push through the chairs, the sheriff caught her arm and whispered something to her furiously. The blonde yanked away with a glare and turned her eyes back to Lena. 

 

“What about reparations?” She shouted out over the crowd.

 

Lena didn’t respond for a minute, her corporate brain immediately trying to account for the new player in the game.

 

“I’m sorry, who are you?” She questioned with an arched eyebrow.

 

The woman took a step forward into the crowd, immediately becoming the centre of attention for everyone much to Lena’s annoyance.

 

“My name’s Kara Zorel,” the blonde replied viciously. “I own one of the ‘lots of land’ you want to buy us out of.”

 

Lena allowed a blank mask to fall over his face.

 

“As I said, I’m simply a representative of Luthor Corp-“ She began to respond, but was cut off quickly by the irate blonde.

 

“You’re the sister to the company’s CEO,” Kara responded. “You’re the one in charge of buying land parcels. The decision rests with you. Stop trying to pass the buck here, just because you don’t want to face our ire.”

 

A silence descended over the room and all the eyes slid to Lena, waiting for her response.

 

The brunette made a show of powering down her presentation, observing how the action irritated the blonde before she responded in a calm voice. 

 

“The decision to sell lies entirely with you. I’m here, simply to promote the benefits of selling to Luthor Corp.”

 

Kara let out a snort at that, wiping her forehead clear of stray strands of hair before she replied.

 

“You have us over a brine barrel,” she said accusingly. “You know full well that people are running out of options. Nobody is helping us out here. Not the state, or the federal government. Nobody gives a shit about the fact that we’re working ourselves to the bone. The generations we’ve given to feeding this country and working this land doesn’t mean shit. No, they’d just be happy for us to sell out to you because you’re the ones who give them money for their campaigns. So instead of the department of agriculture actually doing their fucking jobs, we get some pencil-skirted paper pusher who’s probably never seen a cow before trying to fuck us over.”

 

The insults hit Lena and rolled off her the way they usually did, but the brunette quickly grew annoyed at herself when they had the unusual effect of making the blonde seem more interesting. She was clearly passionate about what she believed in, that much was obvious. That fact alone elevated her standing above the Daxam’s, Lord’s and Edge combined in Lena’s eyes.

 

“Ms Zorel,” she replied in a placating tone. “I can see that this is a serious issue for you. Rest assured, I have absolutely no intention of stealing this land from you. Luthor Corp is more than willing to paying you a price well above market value. One that we think is fair and completely reflects the years that you’ve spent on your land. Now, I understand that your farm’s mean a lot to you. But I am not responsible for the financial situation in the area. Blaming me for that makes as much sense as blaming me for the drought. I am simply here, to provide an option for those of you who want to take it.”

 

Kara had started to shake her head the second Lena began to speak, letting out a loud huff the second she ended.

 

“Rehearsed speeches don’t hold much with me, Ms Luthor,” she spoke back in a firm voice. “I’m sure that you’ve spouted that one off at every town you’ve come to and I’m sure each and every one of them have had their opposition. But I’ll think you’ll find that this tiny insignificant dot on your map will be a tougher nut to crack than most.”

 

Lena’s eyebrow twitched at the clear threat in the blonde’s voice.

 

“Ms Zorel-“

 

The blonde pushed through the crowd until she was standing right in front of Lena. The brunette was slightly surprised to realise that the farmer was a few inches taller than her, staring down at her with the piercing blue eyes that unsettled her deeply.

 

“Tell us this, Ms Luthor,” the blonde asked in a soft voice that somehow managed to resonate around the room clearly. 

 

“If we went under and the bank foreclosed on us, would your company buy it back from the bank at auction or not?”

 

For the first time during a presentation, Lena’s tongue swelled up in her mouth and she found herself completely unable to speak. The words hit her in a way they never had before, but Lena wondered if that was because how unnervingly starstruck she felt in this stranger’s presence. Or because Kara spoke so rawly that even Lena felt partial to her perspective on the issue.

 

After a few seconds, the brunette’s eyes tracking the movement of Kara’s throat as the blonde swallowed, Kara took a deep breath. 

 

“No answer, of course,” the blonde continued in a whisper before taking a step back.

 

Lena blinked and shook her head, feeling very much like a waterlogged dog.

 

“You’re telling us, that you’re doing us a favour here,” Kara continued, walking backwards and talking more to the crowd than to Lena. “But the real reason you’re out there promoting yourself and offering ‘above market value’ prices is that you don’t want to compete with any other companies at auction. Because, in the end, that would probably end up costing your company more money than you’re offering us.”

 

She turned on her heel at the end of the room and pointed an accusing finger towards the still silent Lena.

 

“You can stand there and judge us as simple country idiots, Ms Luthor. But I’m not going to let you speak half-truths to these people. Honesty goes a lot further around these parts than stacks of cash. At least for the people that this place actually means something.”

 

At Lena’s lack of response and the unsettled murmur that grew in the crowd, Rhea stepped forward. 

 

“I think that concludes the meeting,” she said coolly.

 

“Yeah, Kara. Thanks for your contribution,” Mike said with a snort.

 

The blonde woman ignored the man and levelled Rhea with a glare.

 

“We all know the real reason you moved the meeting out here, Rhea. To make sure the little folks don’t get their say,” Kara spat out.

 

The younger Max Lord stepped forward at that.

 

“Why don’t you go home to your daddy, Kara? Surely he’ll be missing you by now.”

 

For some reason at Max’s words, the whole room seemed to freeze. The redheaded woman stood to her feet, giving Kara a concerned look while the dimpled sheriff moved forward quickly and grabbed the blonde’s elbow.

Kara’s face had gone white with rage, but the sheriff whispered something in her ear that made her posture relax. After a minute, Kara shook the woman off and exited the room, slamming the door behind her.

 

The tension didn’t leave the room with her though, rippling through the remaining occupants while they stood to their feet and mingled.

 

Lena was suddenly brought out of her fog and back to reality.

 

_What the fuck just happened?_

 

“I’m sorry about that, Lena,” Rhea said, approaching Lena with an apologetic smile. “Kara has a tendency to oppose anything new in the area.”

 

Lena scowled fiercely at the older woman, a swell of rage growing at herself for the way she had handled the end of her own presentation. The way one stupid, sweaty blonde farmer had managed to throw her off her game completely. 

 

In the nearly ten years she had been doing this job, nobody had rattled her. She had endured far worse at the hands of much older, which made the fact that she had become tongue-tied even worse. Lena wasn’t some stupid teenager who fell over any time a pretty girl gave her more than two seconds of attention. 

 

Her reputation was one of the only fucking things she had left. 

 

“It’s Ms Luthor and it’s fine,” she muttered, starting to pack up her gear quickly and efficiently. “My arrivals in places like this tend to cause similar reactions.”

 

Rhea watched as Lena packed up her gear at a speed that would impress even her critical mother. The brunette brushed past the people in the room, not stopping to answer more questions and opened her car to slot in her things.

 

The middle-aged woman had followed her out and rushed to speak before Lena could drive off.

 

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay the night? I assure you that here, you won’t get fleas.”

 

Lena rolled her eyes in the dark, before turning back to the other woman with a tight-lipped smile. 

 

“I’m fine, thank you.”

 

The other woman didn’t appear deterred at Lena’s rejection. 

 

“Well, maybe Michael could take you out to dinner while you’re here? I’d be very grateful.“

 

With that final line, Lena’s patience finally snapped in two. She rounded on the other woman with a snarl.  


 

“Mrs Daxam, while I appreciate your hospitality... I have absolutely zero interest in going out to dinner.”

 

The woman still pressed.  


 

“Well, you never know. Michael actually attended-“

 

Lena jumped in her car, turned it on and revved the engine before rolling down the window.  


 

“Mrs Daxam,” she all but yelled over the loud roar. “I am here for business and business only. I have no interest in meeting or dating anyone while I’m here, least of all your son.”

 

The woman’s face turned sour at that, but Lena didn’t give her a chance to reply and instead pressed her foot flat on the accelerator and roared off and down the road. She drove that way for a few minutes silently, before letting out a guttural yell and slamming her hands against the steering wheel in anger.

 

* * *

 

“FUCK!” Lena screamed as she stood next to her car and kicked it’s wheel, sending a sharp pain up her leg. 

 

The last thing she needed on this shit hole of a day was her car breaking down on the side of the road, in the middle of nowhere and in the middle of the night. The longer and faster she had driven away from the Daxam’s farm, the more enraged she had become. Lena was trying to write up her unprofessional behaviour to the fact this was her first rodeo after her divorce. Clearly, she was shaken up far more than she had anticipated, to be thrown so easily off her game.

 

Only that viewpoint lasted for about a mile before she became so enraged at herself and resigned herself to a sleepless night. Figuring out her new gameplay to take back the lead on this project, writing the narrative she wanted.

 

Of course, that was all blown to hell once her car decided to break down.

 

Lena’s eyes watered when a pair of headlights crested a hill and shined directly into her eyes. 

 

She shielded them as the car drew closer, the pickup pulling to a halt next to her and Lena’s heart sank when she heard a familiar voice call out to her after the slamming of a car door.

 

“You got a flat?” Kara asked the gravel crunched under her boots as she walked forward.

 

Lena let out a loud groan and turned back to face her car.

 

_Was the universe punishing her? Did her ex cash in a favour with the devil?”_

 

“I’m fine,” she muttered out.

 

The blonde walked closer until she was standing next to Lena and squinted down at Lena’s front tire. 

 

“You ever changed a tire before?” She asked with disbelief in her voice.

 

Lena growled out loud, making the blonde jump in surprise. 

 

“I don’t have a flat,” Lena hissed out. “Something happened to the engine. It just died.”

 

The blonde woman next to her shuffled over slightly until she was standing in front of the car. Lena was annoyed to note that it made her figure seem haloed with light from the still running pickup truck lights. 

 

“Let’s have a look then,” Kara asked gruffly.

 

The brunette raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest.

 

“You want to look at my engine?” 

 

Lena swore she heard the other woman take a sharp intake of breath, but dismissed it when the farmer walked back towards her and spoke in a plain voice.

 

“Well, I can’t just leave you out here, can I?”

 

The brunette cocked her head, surprised by the woman’s offer considering her obvious distaste for Lena. After a few seconds, the businesswoman shook her head and rejected Kara’s attempt at help.

 

“Look, you won’t be able to do anything I can’t,” she said.

 

The blonde let out a snort.

 

“Why, you work on cars in your spare time?” She said in a taunting voice.

 

At that, Lena saw red and rounded on the blonde for the first time that evening. Looking her straight in the eye and with anger laced in her voice, she moved forward so fast, the other woman took an automatic step back, her legs hitting the door of Lena’s car. 

 

“Considering I rebuilt three car engines alone when I was a teenager,” Lena all but shouted, prodding a finger into the other woman’s chest.“Yes, I do know how a car fucking works!”

 

Lena was huffing by the end of her words, locking eyes with the surprised farmer for a few seconds before walking backwards herself. Kara stood stock still for half a minute before she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly and gave the brunette an apologetic grimace.

 

“Oh… well then… is there anything you can do to fix it?” She asked in a kinder voice.

 

The brunette blinked at the blonde’s rapid change in demeanour and briefly contemplated snapping back when a wave of exhaustion hit her all at once.

 

“Not out here,” she replied instead. “I don’t have the tools. I’ll need to get it towed into town.”

 

Kara watched her for a beat, clearly trying to make up her mind about something, before crunching back to her truck and jumping in. Lena watched her, shocked that that woman was just going to drive off and leave her here when the blonde shouted out the window.

 

“Well, you aren’t going to be able to get a tow back tonight. Get in the truck and I’ll give you a lift.”

 

Lena scowled at the obvious reluctance in the other woman’s voice and bristled at the idea that she needed to accept charity from someone who had succeeded in one-upping her at her own meeting. 

 

She took a few steps forward so she could actually see the other woman through the open passenger window. The second she bent down slightly to talk to the other woman, she was left sputtering as a stocky looking dog licked her across the face.

 

Kara let out a snort of laughter as Lena wiped the saliva off her with the back of her sleeve, blinking her eyes as she came face to face with a happily panting dog.

 

The brunette couldn’t help but smile at the joyful face and reached her hand up gently for the dog to sniff before scratching it behind its ears. She’d always liked dogs and this one, in particular, had an of crazy excitement about it that she found endearing.

 

After a minute of scratching, she looked away from the dog to see the blonde farmer looking at her with a strange expression. Lena arched her eyebrow at the other woman.

 

“You’re going to drive me back to town?” She questioned. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d be willing to be stuck with me in a confined space for twenty minutes. Besides, it looks like you already have a passenger.”

 

Kara grimaced and leant past the dog so she could open the door, then pulled the animal off the passenger seat so it was sitting in the centre console.

 

“The way my truck moves, it’ll be more like thirty actually,” she answered dryly. 

 

Lena didn’t move to enter the car and after a few seconds Kara let out an exasperated sigh.

 

“Look, do you want a lift or not?” the blonde asked with an irritated frown. “It’s that or you sleep in your car, cause I’m not letting you try your luck at walking back in the dark.”

 

The brunette narrowed her eyes at the implication that the blonde would be able to stop her from doing anything, but wasn’t stupid enough to protest just for the sake of it.

 

“Fine,” she grumbled, before pulling herself into the dusty truck.

 

She sat down on the lumpy seat gingerly, noting with a raised eyebrow that the seat belt buckle was literally being tied down with a bit of rope. Lena barely had time to lock it into place, when Kara began to drive forward. 

 

The engine was loud and roared down the road, vibrating so much that Lena’s teeth began to rattle. 

 

“You can sit down properly you know,” Kara said after a few minutes of silent driving. “My seats aren’t going to stain your skirts that bad.”

 

Lena resisted the urge to respond to the barb and settled herself back in the seat, wincing as loose nail poked her in the butt. She jumped slightly and pulled it out from under her, Kara letting out a bark of laughter when she noticed.

 

“You know, I’m surprised that you didn’t spend the night at the Daxam’s,” the blonde said with a smirk. “Their house has gotta be a fair bit nicer than the bar’s rooms.”

 

Lena scowled and crossed her arms over her chest.

 

“I wasn’t going to sleep within a hundred feet of Michael Daxam.”

 

The brunette was surprised when the blonde let out a joyful laugh and gave Lena a wide smile.

 

“Oh God, please call him Michael to his face. He’ll hate it.”

 

Her laughter trailed off into a chuckle and she continued to shake her head in amusement.

 

“But I totally get that,” Kara continued. “I made the same oath after we broke up.”

 

Lena’s focused irritation broke at the blonde’s words.

 

“You dated him?” She said eyeing Kara with surprise, annoyed the find that the idea bothered her for some reason.

 

The blue-eyed gave her a sidelong look, before refocusing on her driving.

 

“You sound shocked,” she questioned in a curious voice.

 

Lena frowned at herself, before letting out a huff and replying.

 

“Well I may find you to be an obnoxious asshole, but I thought you had enough intelligence to stay away from a frat boy.”

 

Kara snorted, presumably at the venom in Lena’s voice.

 

“He’s not all bad… But the relationship only lasted about five seconds. High school fling that ended when he cheated on me with Imra Adreen. Funny story, he dumped her about a year after me and we ended up being great friends,” she said, finishing with a smile that made the corners of her eyes crinkle.

 

Lena yanked her own gaze away and back to the road, wondering for the fiftieth time what the hell was wrong with her today. 

 

“You’re awfully chatty,” she bit out, hoping her caustic tone would halt the conversation in its tracks.

 

Kara’s smile died and transformed into a scowl that rivalled Lena’s.

 

“And you’re uptight,” she spat back. “Would you prefer we sat in awkward silence?”

 

The brunette shifted in her seat, determined not to be cowed. 

 

“Why did you offer me a lift?” She demanded.

 

The blonde gave her an incredulous look.

 

“Because I’m not an asshole,” she said flatly. "I wasn’t going to leave you on the side of the road in the middle of the night.”

 

The simple honesty in the words rang through the car and silenced Lena. It wasn’t often that the brunette met someone who disliked her but still went out of their way to do the right thing by her. 

 

It put her in an unfortunate position.

 

Lena hated being in debt to anyone, particularly people who had shown her up.

 

“Thank you, I guess,” she grumbled out reluctantly.

 

Kara’s fingers flexed on the steering wheel.

 

“You’re welcome,” she barked back.

 

They ended up falling into an awkward silence, after all, only being broken by the sound of the dog panting, the engine roaring and the occasional pothole they hit with a thud. After a while, Lena felt bad enough that she tried to fill up the silence herself.

 

“Are you going far out of your way to drop me off then?” She asked.

 

Kara didn’t react to her words quickly.

  
“No, I’m picking up a friend of mine in town and driving her home,” she said finally.

 

Lena let out a snort, remembering how the teenager she picked up this morning had said the similar words.

 

“It isn’t Ruby is it?” She asked.

 

Kara gave her a surprised look.

 

“How do you know Ruby?” The blonde questioned.

 

The brunette raised her eyebrows at the defensive and demanding note in the farmer’s voice. 

 

“I picked her up from the side of the road when I was driving into town today,” she replied.

 

Kara let out a groan at the news, falling back in her seat and letting the back of her head hit the headrest with an audible thud.

 

“Ah, so she ran away again last night, huh?” Kara asked.

 

The green-eyed woman frowned the blonde. 

 

“What?”

 

The farmer grimaced, before explaining.

 

“Whenever she gets into a fight with her mom, she runs away for the night.”

 

Lena frowned, annoyed that she had been lied to even if it was by a teenager she didn’t know.

 

“She told me she was staying over at her friend’s house,” Lena replied.

 

Kara nodded and rolled her eyes.

 

“And she was working that morning and was too busy to drop her off in town? Yeah, that’s her old standby. I guess she figured she found an easy mark with you. It’s one of the many fascinating things that are currently going on in Argo.”

 

Lena let out a snort.

 

“Yeah. I don’t know why anyone would ever want to live anywhere else,” she said with heavy sarcasm.

 

The blonde turned a corner and the in the near distance Lena spotted the streetlights that indicated they were coming up to the main town.

 

“Do you make it your habit of insulting every place you come across?” Kara growled out. “Make it easier to sleep at night or something?”

 

Lena’s anger with the day bubbled over at the blonde’s words, having reached her limit with the shit she was willing to endure today. She fisted her hand in her lap and levelled the other woman with a hard glare. 

 

“So far today I’ve managed to pick up a random girl on the side of the road and discovered I have to sleep with no air conditioning in a sweltering room,” she stated, listing the reasons on her fingers.

 

“I have to go to the school library to get wifi and I’ve had to deal with arrogant, wannabe, sexist snobs. Then I got yelled at by a self-righteous farmer, my car broke down on the side of the road and now I’m stuck in a truck with her for thirty minutes. What exactly about my day here, do you think painted your town in a good light?” She questioned with a half yell.

 

Kara slammed on her brakes, jostling Lena forward so much that the seatbelt almost cut off her breathing. The blonde shifted the truck into park and turned in her seat so she could glare at the blonde fully.

 

“What did you expect, Ms Luthor?” She questioned. “That we’d all roll over like the Daxam’s and the Lord’s? That we might just be a little-pissed off? Well, I’m sorry that we haven’t lived up to your expectations,” she snapped out.

 

Lena fumbled for her buckle, struggling to remove the seatbelt in her anger.

 

“Well despite what you believe,” she spat out. “I am not, in fact, the devil incarnate. It’s nothing personal.”

 

She finally managed to yank the belt free and moved to open the truck door.

 

“It’s personal to me!” Kara yelled at her.

 

Lena jumped out of the car and slammed the door shut behind her.

 

“Well, thanks for the lift,” she said with a mock bow, before turning on her heel and walking away.

 

The brunette heard a muffled curse behind her then the sound of the truck engine turned off. After a second, Kara’s voice called after her, pulling the brunette’s attention back to the farmer.

 

“James is the mechanic around here and is the only one with a tow truck. But he’s away at the moment on his honeymoon,” the blonde stated.

 

At the words, Lena felt like throwing something. Instead, she let out a low growl and rubbed the side of her head.

 

“So I’m not going to be able to get my car tomorrow. Jesus Christ, this fucking town,” she swore.

 

Kara crossed her arms over her chest and walked back to her truck, slamming her door closed as she entered it.  


 

“If you pull that stick out of you arse for ten seconds and let me finish,” the blonde yelled through the window. “I was going to tell you that I have the keys to the garage, so I can get your car tomorrow instead.”

 

Lena took a step forward, still angry at the situation and shouted once more through the window.

 

“And what am I supposed to do about fixing it?” She questioned.

 

Kara’s face turned a deep shade of red.

 

“Look, that’s not my problem,” she spat. “Do you want me to get your car or not?”

 

The brunette narrowed her eyes at the other woman, the childish part of her mind stomping its feet furiously.

 

She took a shuddering breath.

 

“Fine,” she spat out, before turning and stalking away.

 

Behind her, she heard the roar of Kara’s truck starting again and a muffled yell.

 

“GOODNIGHT! Bloody princess-”

 

The end of the words were cut off as the truck drove away quickly. Lena glared at the disappearing tail lights and muttered to herself.

 

“Stupid hick.”

 

The brunette began to walk the rest of the way up the main street from where she had jumped out of the car, noticing after a familiar teen leaning against the window of a run-down store with a cigarette between her fingers.

“Getting a lift back with Kara, huh?” Ruby said with a grin, before taking a puff and watching as the smoke shifted into the night.

 

Lena felt her rage at the day falter slightly and she joined Ruby next to the store, pulling the cigarette away from the protesting teen and taking a puff of it herself. After a few seconds, eyeing the girl steadily and waiting for her heart rate to calm down she butted the cigarette out.

 

“Visiting a friend, huh?” She replied accusingly.

 

Ruby shrugged at her words, reaching into her jacket for another cigarette to light.

 

“I guess Zorel has been blabbing,” she muttered, before sparking her lighter and taking a fresh puff.

 

Lena watched her actions with a frown but didn’t comment.

 

“Isn’t that what people do in these places?” She questioned instead. “Small town syndrome and all that.”

 

The teen didn’t respond, glaring at her again when Lena plucked the cigarette from her fingers. It changed to a look of surprise after the brunette had taken a puff and handed it back. They took turns for a few minutes in silence until Ruby spoke in a quiet voice.

 

“So you aren’t going to drag me home by my ear?” She asked.

 

Lena’s thoughts, that had been lingering on how vexing her conversations with Kara had been thus far, were jerked back to the present. She eyed the teen carefully, her eyes assessing before she shrugged dismissively.

 

“Not really my style,” she answered. “Besides, I ran away heaps when I was your age.”

 

Ruby looked at her surprised.

 

“You did?”

 

The older woman let out a snort, thinking about all the shit she did when she was thirteen.

 

“Yeah. And I put my hand in the fire that I got into way more trouble than you ever did.”

 

The teen took that as a challenge.

 

“Did _you_ ever vandalise your high school?”

 

Lena raised her eyebrow.

 

“I was expelled from three schools by the time I was your age,” she replied.

 

Ruby’s eyes lit up at that.

 

“Did _you_ ever run away for a week, getting caught by the police one town over?”

 

The older woman’s mouth curved into a wide smile.

 

“I ran away for a month to Paris when I was sixteen,” she said with a laugh. “The only reason I came back was that my brother took over the family company.”

 

The teen’s mouth gapped slightly.

 

“You’ve been to Paris?” She said with awe.

 

The older woman nodded.

 

“Yeah, I have an apartment there actually.”

 

Ruby stared at her like she wasn’t real for a few minutes before her eyes turned wistful.

 

“That must be awesome,” she said with a sigh. “I’ve always wanted to go to Paris.”

 

The brunette watched the girl carefully, her heart letting out an involuntary pang at the girl’s vulnerable voice.

 

“Well, maybe you will one day,” she answered.

 

Ruby frowned.

 

“I doubt it,” she muttered, kicking a loose stone on the road. “Hardly anyone gets out of this shithole town.”

 

Lena looked at the girl with surprise.

 

“I thought you said this town didn’t suck that much.”

 

Ruby rolled her eyes and stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets.

 

“Yeah, well that was this morning. Things look different under the starlight.”

 

Lena shrugged.

 

“You can’t see stars in the city because of the light pollution.”

 

Ruby sighed heavily again.

 

“Yeah, but you have museums and fashion and all the good schools. People actually have dreams in the city past high school football,” she mumbled despondently.

 

Lena looked down at the younger girl and gave her a light punch in the shoulder before speaking in a soft voice.

 

“Don’t be too eager to run away from your childhood,” she replied. “Even if you think it stinks now, it’s going to teach you lessons to take into the future. Besides, you don’t strike me as the type of person who’s life ends at high school. I’m sure whatever you do will be great.”

 

The girl smiled at her but didn’t reply. Instead, she chose a new line of questioning.

 

“So you got a lift with Kara, huh? That must have been fun,” Ruby teased with a grin.

 

Lena had a sinking feeling that the people in this town had been looking forward to the confrontation that occurred between herself and the blonde farmer.

 

“She seems really angry with me,” Lena answered.

 

Ruby nodded seriously.

 

“Well she puts up with a hell of a lot of shit,” she said simply. “But she’s like the only cool person too. She always comes around to have dinner with me and my mom on Thursday. She helped my mom out when she was pregnant with me. Kara was like one of the only people around here who didn’t treat her like a leper. But yeah, she’s hated you ever since she heard that you were coming down here.”

 

The brunette absorbed the new information about Kara and filed it away, though it didn’t really change her perception of the other woman. 

 

“How can you hate someone you’ve never even met?” She questioned, noting the irony because she did it all the time.

 

The teen let out a laugh.

 

“Your reputation preceded you,” she answered. “Kara’s got to be the most determined person around here and she always sticks up for the little guy. She doesn’t want to sell. Her place means something to her. My advice? If you want to get anywhere around here, you’re going to have to get her on your side somehow.”

 

Lena scowled at the idea.

 

“I’ve dealt with her type before,” she said in a self-assured voice.

 

Ruby gave her a disbelieving look.

 

“It’s funny that you think that.”

 

A minute of silence passed by, Lena’s thoughts still on the blonde farmer, before she pushed off the building.

 

“Well, I better go to bed,” she said.

 

Ruby nodded too, before moving to trot down the street. After a few steps, she turned and gave Lena an uncertain smile.

 

“Yeah, I better go home too. I guess I’ll see you around?” She questioned.

 

Lena’s heart melted slightly and she gave the teen a nod.

 

“Sure.”

 

After they had gone their separate ways, Lena made her way quickly down the rest of the street and slipped into the bar, walking past the drinking people so fast they barely noticed her. It was only once she was back in her stuffy room that she let out a heavy sigh and her head fell against the back of her closed door with a thud.

 

This day had been long, tedious and hot. She’d come here thinking that this place would be a standard type job, with the typical annoyances and setbacks, but inconveniences had been piling up on the first day alone. 

 

She let out a huff when she realised she’d never actually organised a time with Kara to get her car towed back. And once it was in town, how exactly was she going to go about fixing it? Everything was heading straight towards a giant shit storm by the looks of it.

 

Lena was exhausted enough without the additional thorn of an enraged farmer with attractive blue eyes. 

 

The brunette fell back on her bed and pressed her brother’s contact on her phone.

 

“Little sister, I take it your day went well then?” Lex answered with amusement after two rings.

 

The green-eyed woman stared up at her ceiling for a few seconds before responding with a tired voice. 

 

“I want to get out of here, Lex,” she whispered.

 

Her brother let out a breath and for the first time, that day spoke in a kind voice. 

 

“That bad, huh?” Lex said gently.

 

The brunette’s eyes fluttered closed, her mind burning with the notable images of her day and all the people in it.

 

Moody teenagers and annoying blondes.

 

“As I’ve said,” she muttered. “Backwater town, backwater people.”

 

Her brother pressed her for information.

 

“I’m sure some of them were at least a bit colourful? Any notable clashes yet?”

 

Blue eyes came to mind and Lena felt a flush grow on her cheeks.

 

_What the fuck was wrong with her?_

 

She sat up quickly, derailing her own thoughts. 

 

“If it’s all the same to you,” Lena replied sarcastically. “I’d prefer to relive my divorce proceedings.”

 

Lex let out an uncharacteristic sigh and began to speak in a soft and measured voice. 

 

“Don’t take out your rage on the poor town. You know as well as I, they’re just doing their best with what they know.”

 

Lena closed her eyes, acknowledging the truth in Lex’s words.

 

After a pause, her brother spoke again in a serious tone.

 

“Still, I didn’t send you for nothing. I need this deal closed and I need it closed fast.”

 

The brunette sighed. She was well aware of the time crunch on this project. One of the reasons Lex had agreed to send her was the fact that she always got things done quickly.

 

“Don’t worry, Lex,” she replied. "I’m the best. I’ll get it done, then I’ll come home.”

 

Her brother reaffirmed his previous words.

 

“It all hinges on this, Lena. Don’t be contentious if it doesn’t get you anywhere,” he warned seriously.

 

Lena rolled her eyes.

 

“I can be charming when I want to, Lex,” she replied.

 

Her brother laughed.

 

“Yeah, when you were twelve maybe,” he teased. “There’s a reason you’ve earned your nickname on the east coast.”

 

The green-eyed woman arched an eyebrow.

 

“What? The Wicked Bitch of the West? I thought that one was going out of fashion,” she said dryly.

 

“I’m pretty sure Veronica brought it back.”

 

At the sound of her ex-wife’s name, Lena’s heart seized and skipped a beat. The foul mood she’d been cultivating for months growing in her chest once more and feeding her exhaustion.

 

“Why did you have to say her name?” She whispered, pained.

 

Lex groaned but spoke in a lighthearted voice.

 

“Just because she’s taken all your money, doesn’t mean I can’t say her name anymore. She’s always been nice to me,” he teased.

 

The brunette growled.

 

“Fuck you, Lex.”

 

The older man let out an evil cackle of laughter at her words.

 

“I swear to Christ, Lena, you need to get laid,” he goaded. “There’s got to be some attractive redneck out there, willing to take you for a ride.”

 

_A ride in a beat-up pickup with blue eyes and a dog._

 

Lena felt like slapping herself, she’s was making the day into a bad country song.

 

“Oh brother mine,” she replied instead. “When will you learn that not every mood I have revolves around whether or not I’m having sex.”

 

Lex snorted.

 

“Just most of them then.”

 

The brunette let out a laugh and was happy to realise that she actually felt better after talking to her brother. While Lex was endlessly annoying, he always made her happier when she talked to him.

 

“Goodnight, Lex,” she answered with a smile.

 

“Night, Lena. Sweet dreams,” he replied, before hanging up the phone with a click.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think :D


	3. Off The Rails

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *peeks my head over the fence*
> 
> Heyyy guys.
> 
> I've had a hell of a time of it lately. My life has been an absolute madhouse with injury, illness, travel and now work. But I'm here, back and ready to get stuck into this story full throttle. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter :)
> 
> Songs for this chapter;
> 
> Here We Go- Drew Holcomb and the Neighbours 
> 
> The Joke - Brandi Carlile
> 
> Old devils - William Elliot

 

Kara let out a groan, stretching out her back as she laid the paint roller down. The blonde farmer checked her watch and let out another groan when she realised that her painting had taken her into three in the morning.

 

But at least it was finally done.

 

The blonde rubbed her aching eyes with the back of her hand, letting out a loud curse when she managed to get paint in them. She blinked furiously, stumbling towards her water bottle to wash them out.

 

After a few long minutes of agonising burning and gentle scrubbing, she managed to blink out blearily to see Oscar staring up at her from his frayed cushion in the corner of the room with a curious expression.

 

“A fat lot of help you’ve been,” she grumbled, the dog letting his tail thump down against the floor steadily at her voice.

 

Kara crouched down, letting her tired fingers ruffle through Oscar’s thick coat.

 

“Not that I blame you,” she said in an easier tone. “You’re here for emotional support and you do a great job of that.”

 

He let out a huff and a snort, allowing his head to fall back on the floor in satisfaction. The farmer stood to her feet, stretching out her back once more as she surveyed the freshly painted room with a smile.

 

Finally done.

 

Unless you counted the sink and shower she still had to instal, the blinds she had to screw in and the furniture she was going to have to scrounge up from somewhere just to furnish the place.

 

On that last thought, the lightbulb shining above her flickered and died.

 

The sudden darkness in the room made Kara groan once again and fumbled her way blindly out of the room, pushing open the heavy door so she could step out on the verandah. She all but collapsed down the steps, pausing so she could take in the sight of the misty horizon, faint hints of light playing out over the dried out and cracked fields. Even though sunrise hours away, summer days always brought in the early light. The blonde’s heart softened slightly at the sight. It was easy at this time of the day for Kara to forget that there was a drought going on and that the only world she had ever known and wanted to know, was slipping through her fingers.

 

Her thoughts drifted to the dark-haired Luthor sister that she had simultaneously meet, yelled at and picked up on the side of the road the night before. Kara had been furious, but not surprised, to discover that the town meeting had been moved to the Daxam farm. They were one part of the trio of farming family’s determined in the area to sell out to Luthor Corp.

 

And they were willing to do anything to ensure that anybody who disagreed with their objective wasn’t allowed more than two minutes to speak their mind on the matter. Still, even though she had been delayed by one of her father’s monologues Kara had managed to turn up on time. Maggie hadn’t been happy with her presence. She probably expected another fist fight to erupt between her and Max Jr.

 

The man had given her the evils the entire time she was in the room which couldn’t help but stroke Kara’s ego. The memory of stealing from the entitled prick bolstering her courage when her breath almost got knocked away from her at the sight of Lena Luthor.

 

There was no other word for it, the youngest Luthor was beautiful.

 

But she stood out like a sore thumb in a place like Argo with her pencil skirt, high heels and her hair pulled back in a severe bun. Kara could hardly believe that this was the same woman who was referred to as the best of the best when it came to closing deals on buying farmland. The brunette couldn’t have looked more out of place in this land of dust and no water if she tried.

 

Her eyes had been guarded and her face blank, but Kara could have sworn she a flash of something when she called her out on her corporate bullshit.

 

The blonde scowled at herself, scuffing her foot against the wooden deck at her stupidity. Kara blamed it on stress, but Alex would no doubt chalk up the blonde’s offer to help the dark-haired woman get her car towed as her misplaced sense of country hospitality.

 

At least that’s what she’d told her when she stopped at the Danvers farm on her way home last night, pulling an irritated Alex out of bed so she could shout about how damn insufferable the stray she had picked up on the side of the road had been.

 

After a solid twenty minutes of pacing and grumbling, an equally annoyed Maggie had appeared from Alex’s bedroom and thrown a pillow at her head.

 

“Will you two shut up? Some of us have to work in the morning!”

 

Kara had flushed from head to toe and hightailed it out of there only to toss and turn in her own bed, her anger at the Luthor woman keeping her up along with flashes of green eyes. Finally, she figured that if she wasn’t going to be able to get any sleep she could at least do something productive and finish the painting.

 

But now, exhausted as she was, Kara still couldn’t sleep.

 

She let out a groan and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

 

Stress, too much stress.

 

* * *

 

Kara let James’ tow truck rumbled to a stop outside of the Bar, overjoyed at the smoothness of the engine. She rubbed her hands over the steering wheel with a sigh, wishing for a moment that she could afford a better truck that sounded more like a car than a dinosaur waking from a nap when it ran. Ever since he was a child James had worked in the garage with grandfather and always had a gift with engines. So it was no wonder that his truck ran so smoothly and gleamed in the sunlight. There had been a brief month in high school where James had been more than a friend. The mechanic had revealed to her that his real passion wasn’t with cars, but with photography.

 

He was due to follow Clark to college in the city when a week away from graduation his grandfather died. Then James’ choice to follow his dream was taken away from him.

 

Loyalty. Something Clark failed to understand.

 

Kara let out a sigh, willing her tired and brooding thoughts to banish from her head before they drifted to her cousin and turned off the ignition.

 

She entered the old bar, her dusty boots leaving footprints on the floor and Winn greeted her with a wave from behind the bar.

 

“Alright, Winn?” She asked easily, walking forward and leaning against the bar.

  
The curly haired man’s smile flickered as his eyes took in the shadows beneath hers.

 

“I’m ok. How about you?” He asked with concern.

 

Kara hummed and ran her fingers over the smooth bar gently.

 

“Oh, you know… Just the usual crap to deal with,” she answered.

 

The man grimaced and the blonde farmer let out a sigh.

 

“Speaking of… I’m looking for our infamous visitor. She’s about yay high,” she indicated with a hand gesture. “Brunette, angry face and if you look close enough you can see the devil horns and the pitched fork she has shoved up her-“

 

“She’s not here, Kara,” Winn replied quickly, cutting her off with a disapproving look that made Kara grin.

 

“And could you tone it down with the graphic images?”

 

The blonde farmer let out a snort, not buying into Winn’s innocent aboard act.

 

“Oh c’mon… don’t tell me you haven’t noticed she’s about as a relaxed as a nun in a brothel,” she replied.

 

The bartender sniffed and reached for a glass to wipe with his tea towel.

 

“I try not to judge people I don’t know,” he answered in a stiff tone.

 

Kara couldn’t help but feel a pang of annoyance.

 

“I guess we’ll see if you change your tune once you’re out on your ear,” she grumbled, before pushing herself off and away from the bench and giving the dusty old place a brooding look.

 

“Why are you looking for her anyway?”

 

The blonde woman turned back to face the quizzical man and a small rush of heat rushed her cheeks.

 

“Her car broke down last night after the meeting. I’m helping her with a tow,” she said gruffly.

 

Winn’s eyebrows almost hit his hairline at her words and Kara felt a prickle of discomfort grow up the back of her neck.

 

“Someone has to keep an eye on her… Enemies close and all that..,” she mumbled old, avoiding his eyes.

 

Kara had the strong suspicion the man didn’t believe her entirely or at least had a burning curiosity about her motivations, but restrained himself.

 

“She headed to the library really early,” he finally answered, Kara finally turning to look at him this time her own eyes filled with questions.

 

Winn rolled his eyes slightly.

 

“Said it was too hot in her room last night,” he answered dryly.

 

Kara’s irritation with Winn instantly transferred over to the Luthor woman, even if she had to agree that the room above the bar wasn’t exactly five star.

 

“Thanks, Winn,” she answered, the man inclining his head in response before she exited the bar into the already burning sunlight.

 

Kara drove the truck the three minute it took to reach the outside of the school library and noted with concern the figure of her goddaughter hastily stubbing out a cigarette on the wall she was leaning against next to the entrance. The blonde let out a sigh, her worry at Ruby’s continuing rebellious attitude rising once more.

 

The girl had always had a bit of a rough time of it, joining the subsection of people the people in the area deemed ‘troublemakers’ before she was even out of the womb, purely because Sam was a teenage mother.

 

An unwed teenage mother at that.

 

The father, though Alex and Kara always referred to him as the sperm donor, wanted nothing to do with Ruby and had cut Sam out to dry well before she was in her third trimester. Sam had never told anyone who the man was, except for one drunken confession to Kara that the blonde had sworn to take to the grave. As far as the young gamer knew, Ruby had never asked.

 

She was always such a happy child, it was disconcerting to see her grow into a moody teenager. Ruby and Kara had always been close, but lately…

 

“Heard you’ve been running all over kingdom come,” the farmer asked as her boots crunched towards the girl, her nose wrinkling at the lingering smell of smoke in the dusty air.

 

The teen shrugged in response and played with the ends of the ghastly neon green highlights she’d somehow convinced her mom to let her get.

 

“Sometimes I just need a break, you know?”

 

Kara had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes at the generic response and instead approached the girl cautiously before touching her shoulder gently.

 

“Yeah,” she said with a breath as the girl shifted from her touch. “You know… you can always come out to see me.”

 

The girl levelled her with a look that made Kara feel like she was eighty and decrepit.

 

“Sure,” she answered with a slight snort. “Maybe next time.”

 

Kara frowned but followed quickly as the girl pushed off the wall and entered the library. The blonde allowed herself half a second to absorb the cool air before she spoke again.

 

“I worry about you, kid,” she said gently. “We all do.”

 

The teen turned and levelled her with a glare that reeked of angst and stubbornness.

 

“Cause you’re all the picture of functionality,” she drawled with a prima donna-like eye roll.

 

Kara shook her head.

 

“We’re your family, Rubes,” she said earnestly, earning her another annoyed look for using the teen’s pet name. “Family looks out for each other.”

 

Well, Kara thought as her thoughts drifted to Clark, maybe not genetic family.

 

Ruby let out a guffaw.

 

“Bullshit.”

 

“Ruby, don’t swear!” Sam said with a frown, suddenly appearing next to the pair and making them jump.

 

The girl mimicked her mother’s frown, before grumbling something under her breath and shoving her hands in her pockets. Sam’s frown deepened, but she made no move to comment as the girl scuffed her feet and wandered into a far corner of the library. The librarian’s eyes followed her movement, before turning to Kara and giving her a quick hug and strained smile.

 

“How are you doing, Kara? Sorry, I couldn’t make it to last night’s meeting,” she said, her eyes darting towards her daughters slouched figure. “But I heard you went in guns blazing as expected.”

 

The blonde scratched the back of her neck absentmindedly, thinking about last night with a grimace.

 

“The first shots were fired.”

 

Sam gave her a knowing look, before frowning slightly and admonishing the blonde in a warning tone.

 

“Well round two doesn’t need to take place in my library,” she said with a finger waggle.

 

Sam gave the farmer one last lingering look of warning, before busying herself behind her desk. The blonde shifted her eyes to the back of the near-empty room to see the dark-haired executive sitting in a corner surrounded by various electronics and typing furiously on a fancy looking laptop. A fierce sense of fury seemed to emanate off her, more so than it had the day before and Kara couldn’t but wonder what it was that made the woman look so pissed off with the world. The blonde contemplated briefly turning on her heel and walking out, shoving all her stupid chivalry deep down and letting someone else handle the mess that seemed to be this situation. Those plans were blown apart when the other woman looked up from whatever she was doing briefly and her eyes locked with Kara’s.

 

A guarded look dropped over her face and her mouth tilted into a frown. Kara was once again left with the uncomfortable feeling of being inspected, but the blonde refused to let the Luthor woman’s gaze rattle her and walked towards the seated woman quickly.

 

The businesswoman eyed her silently and Kara awkwardly stuck her thumbs in the loops of her belt.

 

“I got the truck,” she mumbled out, confused as to why she felt so embarrassed. “If you still want that tow.”

 

The dark-haired woman stared at her, a flicker of surprise in her eyes before a crease grew between her eyes grew that gave the blonde and annoying urge to smooth out with her thumb.

 

“I didn’t think you were going to show up,” Lena said simply.

 

The blonde frowned at the words and the inference that she wouldn’t follow up on her word. The farmer eyed the green-eyed woman up and down, taking in her rumpled shirt and the bags under her eyes that weren’t completely covered by makeup.

 

“You look like shit,” she said flatly.

 

The corner of Luthor’s mouth shifted into a sneer and her eyes grew cold as she began to pack away her gear efficiently.

 

“Well your…illustrious… town doesn’t provide the best of rooms….”

 

She stopped her movements and raised a discerning eyebrow at the farmer.

 

“Or produce the best people evidently.”

 

A stab of anger pierced the blonde’s chest.

 

“Look, do you want my help or not?” She snapped.

 

The green-eyed woman made a show of folding up her final papers and slipping them into her bag before she stood to her feet with a satisfied smirk.

 

“Lead the way, Ms Danvers,” she replied, gesturing with her hand.

 

The blonde huffed, before turning on her heel and all but stomping out of the room almost missing the small wave the brunette beside her gave Ruby and the way the girl grinned in response. She filed that away for future unpacking, before exiting the library and jumping in the drivers seat of the borrowed tow truck. The executive sat down delicately on the passenger side and gave the clean interior an appreciative look.

 

“Well… at least your mechanic’s truck is clean,” she said, giving the blonde a pointed look which the farmer was convinced was a jab at the state of her own busted up truck.

 

Kara refrained from responding, inside firing up the truck and making the familiar trek down the main street in silence with turning down the familiar dusty roads that would lead to the business woman’s car. They drove quietly with only the soft crooning of a Dolly Parton song playing. Kara felt herself relaxing slightly after a few minutes, trying to ignore the presence of the woman next to her and instead enjoy a functioning radio for once. Her half doze was broken when Lena decided to speak.

 

“You’re decidedly less chatty today.”

 

Kara’s lip curled slightly and her grumpy exhaustion raised its head at the words.

 

“I’m doing you a favour,” she mumbled out, before making a sharp turn that made the brunette swear.

 

“Besides… we don’t have to talk,” the blonde continued.

 

A brief pause followed before Kara felt herself being watched and flickered her eyes to see the green-eyed woman inspecting her carefully before speaking in a

 

“You look like you haven’t slept a wink either…. surprising. Can’t be from an early start on your… farm.”

 

The words were spoken like velvet but rubbed Kara completely the wrong way.

 

“What the hell are you talking about?” She snapped.

 

The other woman shrugged.

 

“Just that it can’t be that hard to work the land… when there’s nothing on the land to work.”

 

Kara’s frown deepened and her rancour rose. It seemed that Ms Luthor had down her research on the blonde farmer and was obviously trying to get a rise out of her by pointing out her financial situation.

 

“You don’t know anything,” she growled out lowly.

 

The Luthor woman smiled at her and Kara was horrified that a part of her preened slightly at the way it graced the pale woman’s face so prettily.

 

“You’re not the only one who can use Google, Ms Zorel,” the green-eyed woman said with a chuckle.

 

Kara’s back tensed slightly and she gritted her teeth.

 

“Just trying to get the measure of me then,” she rumbled out lowly. “Should I be flattered?”

Her passenger tilted her head as she watched Kara quietly.

 

“I’m very good at my job,” she said simply.

 

For some reason, the words caused a shiver to run down the blonde’s spine, something she tried to shake off quickly.

 

Kara took a few seconds to refocus properly the road properly before she responded.

 

“Just because an executioner performs clean work, it doesn’t make them less of a killer.”

 

The farmer startled slightly at the sound cool, but melodic laugh that the brunette released hearing her words. She chanced a glance at the other woman and was surprised to see the lines of tension around the Luthor woman’s eyes had eased.

 

“Oh, Ms Zorel,” she answered in a low purr that threw the farmer even more off balance.

 

” I’ll never deny that I’m a killer.”

 

A queasy feeling that Kara couldn’t quite place grew in her stomach and she tightened her fingers around the steering wheel in response. Apart from the green-eyed woman’s voice raising goosebumps along her arms, everyone on the planet knew about the dark history that surrounded the Luthor name. The rumours of extortion, blackmail and even murder came hand in hand for nearly every generation until the old patriarch Lionel Luthor cleaned up his act and his family’s name by reinventing the very company that was most likely built on the back of mob hits.

 

Not that any of that meant anything to people living in the middle of nowhere, but it wasn’t ridiculous to feel slightly disconcerted.

 

“I suppose it runs in the family,” Kara said quickly.

 

The blonde was thrown forward abruptly, the seatbelt knocking the wind out of her as she muttered curses and turned with wide eyes to see a snarling Lena Luthor gripping the handbrake of the truck tightly.

 

Kara barely had time to release a baffled protest to the woman’s insane actions before the brunette thrust a finger in her face and began to snap.

 

“If you want the upcoming negotiations between us to be contentious, by all means, continue down the path you want to go attacking me personally,” she hissed, her eyes darkening to a darker shade of green.

 

The farmer felt her breath catch in her throat at the intensity of the other woman’s gaze, but it released quickly at the sight of the brunette’s mouth twisting into a cruel and vicious smile.

 

“But I don’t pull punches, Ms Zorel,” she said smoothly. “I can rip your life apart to get what I want… and I wouldn’t hesitate to do it.”

 

The words rang clear in the car, echoing in the silence and filled with an undeniable promise that every one of them was true and would be followed through.

 

Kara swallowed, hard.

 

“Can’t be fun,” she croaked out. “Being a shark.”

 

The brunette tilted her head.

 

“It doesn’t have to be messy.”

 

The blonde stared at her incredulously for a second, before a burble of rage grew within her own chest and her face turned red with it. She let out a laugh, satisfied that the business woman’s lips pursed at the sound before she replied quickly.

 

“You think you can threaten me?” Kara said with an amused headshake. “Everything I love, you already want to take from me. You think I’m afraid to fight for it?”

 

The green-eyed woman’s lip twitched, but Kara released the handbrake and slammed the car forward into drive. The blonde’s eyes focused on the road for a few seconds, trying to calm her racing heart and chanting in her own head to stop herself from dumping the brunette on the side of the road.

 

“I’m a backwater farmer in a backwater town, with barely two nickels to rub together,” she said instead, continuing in a low growl as fences flew by.

 

“My entire future is built in my own mind. There’s nothing, no scandal or skeleton you could possibly find that will break me, Ms Luthor. My life will never be splashed on magazines and TV specials. I’m not stupid enough to think I’ll ever leave this state. I’ve never been on an aeroplane or even driven in a car that goes faster than eighty miles an hour.”

 

Kara gripped the steering wheel tighter, daring the other woman to call her out on her own betraying thoughts of regret. For sacrificing childhood dreams for lifetime ones.

 

“But be it carrot or stick, you’re trying to tempt me with dreams that I will never have. The only thing I want is what you’re trying to take from me.”

 

Kara turned another corner fast enough to make her passenger grip the door handle with white knuckles. After a few more metres, she finally eased her foot off the gas and allowed some of the tension to bleed from her shoulders.

 

A few more seconds passed in silence, but Kara could practically feel the brunette’s eyes burning into the side of her face.

 

"So, by all means… let’s get muddy,” she finished finally.

 

The businesswoman didn’t respond and the silence lingered once again, Kara almost jumping out of her skin when another country song started to play on the radio. A few more minutes passed before the blonde let out a tired sigh and spoke once again.

 

“Your car is just past this bend,” she said quietly, but to no response.

 

She pulled up slowly, but the Luthor woman jumped out quickly and began to circle her parked and dusty car with a scrutinising expression.

 

Kara rolled her eyes, before jumping out herself.

 

“Checking for damage?” She asked with an arched eyebrow. “No one was going to break into it, you know. Most people around here would have assumed this fancy beast was a figment of their imagination.”

 

The dark-haired woman didn’t bother to answer but couched to rub at a stop on the bonnet with a frown that couldn’t help but make the corner of Kara’s mouth twitch slightly. The blonde jumped back into the truck and stared with confusion at the large panel of strange buttons James had on his dashboard. A few minutes passed while the farmer’s fingers hovered, trying to guess which button does what when Lena appeared by her side with an arched eyebrow.

 

“Having difficulty with that?” She asked dryly.

 

Kara frowned down at the panel, annoyed at her own ineptitude.

 

“No…,” she said in response, making the green-eyed woman stare at her discerningly.

 

“Have you ever actually towed a car before?”

 

The blonde felt a flush begin to grow in her cheeks and she scratched the back of her neck awkwardly.

 

“…no.”

 

Kara startled as a set of cool fingers curled around her bicep and tugged her from the truck with a surprising amount of strength. The farmer had to catch her sprawling in the dust and spluttered as the other woman took her place in the driver’s seat lithely and proceeded to press a series of buttons that shifted the hydraulics and the hook on the back of the truck.

 

“Hey!” The blue-eyed tried to protest, but to no avail, as the other woman jumped back out of the car and rolled her eyes.

 

“Oh, relax,” she said stiffly, before walking towards the back if the truck while Kara trailed after her with a scowl. “It’s my car on the line here and I’d rather be the one in charge of getting it back into town safely than someone who should never even have been giving their licence.”

 

Kara’s mouth gaped and her flush deepened.

 

“Bite me,” she snapped out, before folding her arms across her chest.

 

The other woman waved a hand at her distractedly.

 

“No thanks.”

 

A few minutes passed while Lena busied about and Kara shuffled awkwardly on her feet.

 

“Could you show me what you're doing?” The blonde finally asked, taking a few steps forward.

 

The other woman, busy attaching something to something, looked her up and down with an annoyed look in her eyes.

 

“Why?” She said with a snort. “Are you going to go all macho on me and try to tell me how I’m doing it wrong even though you wouldn’t know a spark plug from a coil?”

 

It irked her to be called out on her lack of knowledge, but the blonde woman shook her head softly.

 

“No,” she said quietly while shrugging. “I just like learning new things.”

 

The businesswoman blinked in surprise at her words and rocked back on her own heels slightly.

 

A beat of quiet passed between them before Lena turned back to the car and spoke in a kinder tone.

 

“Well, normally I’d tell you to Google it and watch a Youtube tutorial but considering the state of affairs regarding internet access in this town I suppose that’s out of the question.”

 

The blonde sniffed, pushing the insult from her mind and stepped forward.

 

“Can you show me or not?”

 

Lena watched her quietly for a second before moving to the side ever so slightly and allowing the blonde a view of the cable she was attaching.

 

A few more minutes passed while Kara observed and listened as Lena explained what she was doing and why. It was only once the brunette’s car was secured properly on the back of the truck and Lena sat in the driver’s seat, insisting that the blonde farmer couldn’t be trusted to drive back into town much to Kara’s irritation, that Lena began to question her once more.

 

“How is it that your mechanic friend gave you the keys to his shop,” she asked as she fiddled with the radio station until it landed on a classical station. “When you don’t have the faintest clue about cars?”

 

Kara frowned at the other woman, pissed off about the driving arrangement and the change of music.

 

“I know some things… like how to change the oil.”

 

Luthor let out a snort to her words, clearly unimpressed.

 

“Gee, a regular grease monkey then,” she said sarcastically before she began to drive back to town at a much higher speed than Kara was comfortable with.

 

“I find cars interesting,” the blonde mumbled after a few minutes her thoughts drifting to the last unsuccessful attempt she had made on trying to fix the farm tractor. “But I don’t really have time to dive into things that won’t help… I don’t really have time for hobbies.”

 

The blonde felt a pang of sadness at her own words, which she instantly squashed with annoyance that she almost sad something compromising to this woman in particular. Fortunately, Lena didn’t seem to catch it but instead looked at her with a severely annoyed expression at her words.

 

“The ability to maintain and look after your vehicle isn’t a hobby, it’s a practical skill,” she stated flatly.

 

The blonde levelled the other woman with a glare at her superior tone.

 

“And when was the last time you helped birth a calf in the breach, Ms Luthor?” She demanded. “Or fixed a fence? Those are the practical skills I need.”

 

Lena sniffed.

 

“Engine maintenance is universal,” she replied haughtily.

 

Kara let out a laugh, before staring moodily out of the window.

 

“Says the woman who probably rebuilt Ferraris in her spare time,” she mumbled out. “I doubt you’ve ever had to be inventive and hang a muffler with a coat hanger.”

 

“Is that how things get done around here?” Kara heard the woman ask in a disgusted voice.

 

The farmer scoffed at the business woman’s total ignorance regarding life in Argo.

 

“Being inventive is how we survive, Ms Luthor,” she answered.

 

There was a brief pause before the other woman began to speak in a voice that could only be described as salesmen like.

 

“Almost makes you wonder what life could be like if you weren’t scraping at the bottom of the barrel.”

 

Kara’s heart felt heavy with pain at the other woman’s words, but the businesswoman continued regardless.

 

”Sometimes a dying plant needs water, Ms Zorel. Don’t get mad at me for holding the watering can.”

 

The blonde woman continued to stare out the window, watching the parched and dry land slip past them as they drove further towards town. Everything about this country screamed sadness and loss, but beneath the surface, Kara knew in her heart that new life was waiting to grow.

 

It just needed a little bit of help to get started.

 

“Water should be free, Ms Luthor,” she finally said seriously. “It’s all well and good to demand that people survive, struggle and prevail on their own merits but when the very sky disagrees… well. I suppose you city folk just see it as bad business on our part and an opportunity on yours.”

 

Kara turned her head to look at the other woman, whose lips were pursed slightly at the blonde’s words, but no other emotion escaped onto her face.  
“Now I’m in control of the weather?” She questioned tightly. "Ms Zorel, is there nothing you redeemable about my character in your eyes?”

 

The blonde felt a pang of ... something at the other woman’s bored words that had pain beneath them.

 

She found herself blurting out a rush of compliments.

 

“You’re smart,” she said suddenly making Lena’s foot slip slightly on the gas.

 

The green-eyed woman flashed her a surprised look, but the blonde barrelled on with her words even as her blush grew astronomically.

 

“Really smart, but anyone with eyes could see that. You don’t take crap from people. I bet a whole lot of people think you got to where you are because of your family, but you worked your butt off for every fancy degree you have hanging on your white office wall.”

 

Kara ran her fingers over the dashboard quickly.

 

“Plus, as much I find your job morally repugnant… you seem to be really good at it.”

 

The blonde swore she heard a hitch of breath from the other woman, but a swirl of confusion grew in her own heart and mind. Completely confused by her own actions and why she felt the need to compliment the woman who was literally trying to steal the land from underneath her.

 

Her fuzzy thoughts were broken by the other woman’s soft voice.

 

“Is flattery your new approach to getting me to back off, Ms Zorel?” She said in an amused but guarded, voice. “I’m almost disappointed.”

 

Kara shrugged.

 

“I just call it as I see it, Ms Luthor. I’ve got no use for lying,” she mumbled out.

 

And when I do, it turns my guts every time

 

Kara shoved that thought deep down.

 

“A paragon of virtue then?” Lena asked.

 

The farmer snorted at the thought.

 

“Hardly…. But James gave me these keys because he’s my friend and he knows I’m reliable. I always turn up, even if I don’t always know what I’m doing.”

 

Lena hummed, before taking a turn far gentler than Kara would have.

 

“Obstinance in the face of a problem doesn’t always get you what you want, you know,” she said gently.

 

Kara arched her eyebrow at the other woman.

 

“You talking to yourself or to me?” She asked.

 

The brunette woman let out a full-bodied laugh.

 

“Touche, Ms Zorel.”

 

* * *

 

A trio of old ladies across the road watched with interest as Lena and Kara unloaded the brunette’s car into the garage and proceeded to burst into whispers when the blonde shot them a look of amusement after she locked the garage back up.

 

“I think we’ve created a sensation,” she said with a laugh as a pair of farmhands also walked past and tried to pretend they weren’t staring at them.

 

Lena scowled at the two men, making them quicken their pace and avert their eyes.

 

“Do the people in this town have nothing better to do than gossip?” She questioned with a thunderous expression.

 

The blonde farmer shook her head.

 

“This is Argo, Ms Luthor. Gossip is the wind that keeps the walls standing upright and the fences in place.”

 

Much to Kara’s surprise, a genuine smile graced the brunette’s face and a burst of happiness grew unbidden in her chest at the sight. She frowned at the feeling, locking it away with the weird ‘why’ of the compliments she gave the other woman earlier.

 

But she stood up slightly straighter because of it all the same.

 

Lena’s smile slipped off her face slightly and Kara could have sworn that a hint of red began to grow in the brunette’s place cheeks, but that could easily be put down to the sun.

 

“Thank you, for your assistance today Ms Zorel,” she said finally. “As much as you didn’t do… I appreciate the offer for help.”

 

They stood silently for another half a second before the businesswoman turned on her heel and began to walk away. Kara stood still than for reasons she again couldn’t fathom half stumbled after the other woman and began to speak.

 

“It’s Kara!” She half shouted, making Luthor turn around and the old biddies across the street look up.

 

The blonde’s mouth gapped for a pause before she mumbled out a sentence.

 

“My first name. You can call me Kara.”

 

The blonde attempted to smile at the other woman but feared it ended up as more of a grimace.

 

The businesswoman blinked, but to Kara’s surprise, her face hardened impossibly into the tightest mask she’d ever seen.

 

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to give your name to the Devil?” The dark-haired woman uttered in a scornful voice.

 

Inexplicably, Kara felt wounded.

 

“I….”

 

The Luthor sniffed, before turning back around.

 

“Have a good day… Kara.”

 

The blonde began to feel a headache grow behind her eyes, but before she had any time to digest what the hell she was doing her phone buzzed in her pocket and Kara answered it absentmindedly, only to wince as Alex’s voice shouted down the line.

 

“Where the hell are you?”

 

Kara frowned, confused.

 

“What?” She questioned.

 

Alex let out a groan.

 

“Maggie was bringing the Lord’s around today, remember? To ‘inspect’ the place?”

 

The blonde felt a flash of dread, having completely forgotten, and started to sprint towards where she had parked her own truck.

 

“Oh fuck… tell me she’s not already there?” She asked desperately.

 

“Well, she just sent me an SOS text message.”

 

Kara swore again.

 

* * *

 

The blonde flew down her driveway, a storm of dust arching out behind her truck. She swore violently once again at the sight of Maggie’s police cruiser and the Lord’s fancy Mercedes already parked in front of the dilapidated house. She slammed the brakes, the wheels of her car skidding slightly and she jumped out quickly.

 

The sound of raised voices caught her attention first, but the sight of her sickly looking father wrapped in his ratty old robe standing on the front porch and being held back by a stressed out Maggie to stop him from jumping the two other men standing behind the officer.

 

Maxwell Lord Senior looked the picture of an immaculate cowboy with shining boots, embroidered denim jacket and a gleaming white Stenson hat hiding his receding hairline. His son was dressed similarly but didn’t radiate quite the same sense of arrogance as his father.

 

At the sight of Kara’s approach, both Max’s turned to look at her with identical sneers of derision. She ignored them, in favour of her father who was obviously reaching a boiling point with his rage and noted with a sickening stomach that his eyes were already bloodshot from drinking.

 

“Mr Zorel, I need you to calm down,” Maggie said, a hand still on the older man’s chest and giving Kara a thankful look when she moved to grab her father’s arm.

 

The greying man pushed both women off and jab a threatening finger into the chest of the older Max.

 

“GET THE HELL OFF MY LAND!” He shouted, spittle flying.

 

Kara pulled him back quickly as the other man’s full moustache quivered with rage.

 

“We have every right to be here,” his said in a voice full of bluster, eyeing Kara with hatred in his eyes. “Considering your daughter has stolen property from us. We’re here to see her properly punished for the degenerate she is.”

 

The blonde rolled her eyes at the younger man’s words.

 

“Prove it before you start waving around big words you looked up last night in the dictionary, Max,” she said dryly, making the man’s face redden before she turned back to her father.

 

“Dad… just go inside. I can handle this-“ She began in a soothing voice, but was immediately interrupted by the younger Lord.

 

“That’s right Zorel,” he said with a snort. “One more whisky down the hatch and likely you won’t even see us anymore.”

 

An echo of silence rang out after the words, a self-satisfied smirk growing on Maxwell’s face before Maggie let out a groan.

 

“What did you say to me?” Kara’s father whispered, turning white as a sheet before lunging forward with outstretched hands.

 

“YOU LITTLE SHIT!” He screamed, the younger man scrambling backwards in the dirt and Kara using all her strength to keep her father from choking their younger neighbour.

 

She managed to haul the struggling man back a few steps, before turning him so she could get his attention with a shout.

 

“DAD! Go inside!” Kara hissed, forcing him to look at her. “I said I could handle this.”

 

Her father’s eyes darted between his daughter’s face and the trio of people in front of the house.

 

“I ought to knock his teeth out-“ He said, making the older Lord puff his chest out like a bird.

 

“Are you threatening my son, Zorel?”

 

Her dad turned to look at the man with an arched eyebrow that sent a pang straight to Kara’s heart.

 

“It won’t be a threat when I actually do it.”

 

The older Max began to splutter his indignation and Maggie moved to whisper a series of words to the man. While that conversation continued, Kara turned back to her father who suddenly looked completely exhausted and tugged him back inside the house gently.

 

“Dad… please go inside,” she whispered, giving him an imploring look.

 

He hesitated briefly before his shoulders dropped and he did as asked in silence. She watched for a half a second as he made his way back towards his room, before turning back to look at the remaining people outside.

 

Maggie was giving her a sympathetic look, that immediately rankled her skin, but not nearly as much as the matching looks of disgust from the two Lord’s.

 

“Isn’t that sweet,” the younger Max said in a cloying voice as she descended the porch steps.

 

“Little Kara looking after her daddy. Do you tuck him in each night with a bottle to keep him warm too?”

 

The blonde took a deep breath but didn’t rise to the man’s bait.

 

“Mr Lord,” Maggie finally said in a snapping tone. “I would seriously advise you to stop talking. I’m the officer here and I only brought you and your father along as a courtesy.”

 

His face flushed at her admonishing tone, but Kara just rolled her eyes when the officer turned to her with a serious expression.

 

“Now… Ms Zorel, would you mind answering some questions about a theft that occurred at sunrise yesterday morning on the Lord’s family farm?”

 

The blonde leant sideways against one of the verandahs posts and crossed her arms over her chest.

 

“I don’t know how I’m going to be of help,” she said with a shrug. “I was asleep in my bed-“

Kara was cut off.

 

“Bullshit, you stole my gear-“ Max snapped out, only to be interrupted by Maggie.

 

“Mr Lord!”

 

A silence descended and the blonde took the opportunity to wink at Max, making his face darken further before she continued as if he hands interrupted her in the first place.

 

“…but ask away.”

 

Maggie stared at her for a minute, before speaking.

 

“You’re claiming you were asleep?” She asked.

 

The blonde farmer tilted her head in assent.

 

“Well and truly,” she drawled. "Went to bed at eleven after doing some painting and then was out like a light until the next day when I went round to the Danvers for breakfast. I’m sure they’ll corroborate. If I may ask, what exactly was stolen?”

 

The corner of Maggie’s mouth twitched, but she made a show of looking at her notebook for the answer.

 

“A bundle of fenceposts.”

 

Kara widened her eyes and tutted in fake shock.

 

“Oh dearie me,” she said in a worried voice. “I do hope we don’t have a thief in the area… Better make sure double check all the locks.”

 

Her eyes flickered towards the Lord’s and the corner of her mouth flickered upwards.

 

Max took an angry step forward.

 

“You fucking bit-“

 

The blonde cut him off with a wave of her hand and turned back to the police officer.

 

“What proof do you have that I took the posts?” She asked.

 

The corner of Maggie’s mouth twisted downwards and Max’s smug voice sounded out.

 

“Security footage.”

 

A flicker of worry curdled in the blonde’s chest.

 

“Security footage?”

 

The man let out a satisfied laugh.

 

“Yeah, that’s right,” he said with a chortle. “We installed cameras this time.”

 

The blonde farmer frowned at the thought, but one glance at Maggie convinced her that whatever ‘footage’ they had was inconclusive otherwise she would have already been arrested

 

“Show me,” she asked.

 

The officer didn’t hesitate and pulled out her phone to display the security video. Kara relaxed further as she watched the terrible quality of Max farting around, only to have a dark shape dart quickly to his truck when his back was turned to lift the fenceposts.

 

After the footage played, Kara yawned widely and scratched the back of her neck.

 

“Oh gee,” she said with a low whistle. “I see the problem. Definitely got a thief then, for sure.”

 

“Shocked we finally caught you in the act?” the older Lord said smugly.

 

The farmer snorted and shook her head.

 

“More like surprised that someone actually did it instead of Max misplacing his gear again… but you can easily tell that isn’t me.”

 

“WHAT?” Max Junior squealed.

 

Kara pointed to the footage.

 

“Well, you can’t even see their face for one and this footage is all grainy black and white… Not the best camera quality, that’s for sure. Hmmm, looks like they ran off for the gap in the boundary.”

 

The blonde’s hand fluttered to her chest.

 

“I do hope they didn’t steal anything here!” She cried out, before turning to Maggie with an earnest look.

 

“Sheriff Sawyer, would you mind coming with me to do a quick once over in the shed just in case? The last thing we need right now is a string of break-ins,” she said with a firm nod, before turning to look the younger Max dead in the eye.

 

“But best to file a report for the insurance if someone has”

 

If it were possible, Kara could have sworn his head was about to explode off of his shoulders at her words.

 

“You filthy fucking bitch!” He shouted, pushing past his father to stand an inch before Kara’s face.

 

Maggie tried to intercept him.

 

“Mr Lord-“

 

He pushed her off and turned back to the stoic Kara with rage in his eyes

 

“You think you’re so fucking clever,” he hissed out, his eyes drifting over her body. “But you’re nothing but a dirty gutter rat who will never amount to anything and will never be anyone. You don’t even have the looks to screw your way out of the mountain of debt your in.”

 

The blonde lifted her eyebrow in amusement, but the man wasn’t dissuaded.

 

“You’re either going to die here, next to your father’s rotting corpse or you’ll go the way your mother did-“

 

Kara didn’t even register the contact of her fist against the spitting man’s perfectly structured nose or the way it shattered on impact

 

* * *

 

Several hours later, nursing her bruised knuckles with an icepack Maggie had fished out of the station’s freezer, Kara let out another soft sigh from inside the cell she’d been locked in.

 

The dark-haired officer looked up from her desk, her pen briefly stopping it’s scratching.

 

“You ok in there?”

 

The blonde turned her glare to the sheriff, the split on her lip from Max’s roundhouse punch making her wince slightly.

 

“No,” she muttered darkly.

 

Their eyes remained locked for a few seconds before Maggie dropped her pen and let out a sigh.

 

“You realise the mess you’ve made for me… for Alex… for yourself-”

 

Kara groaned, cutting her off.

 

“For everyone, I fucking know,” she muttered again.

 

The officer scowled at her.

 

“Don’t swear.”

 

The blonde rolled her eyes but tilted back in her cot so she could stare flatly at the twenty-year-old water stained ceiling.

 

“Sorry,” she said simply.

 

There were a few brief seconds of quiet, broken up by the sound of the ceiling fan turning above Maggie’s desk before the officer spoke again.

 

“Do you need a new icepack?” She asked.

 

Kara let out another sigh.

 

She didn’t want to be in the silent war she currently was with Maggie, most of it falling down to the actions they both took that weren’t in Alex’s best interest. Kara knew that the officer was a good person at heart, but she’d chosen the wrong side of the argument currently splitting the area about whether on not to jump on the selling out bandwagon. Like everyone else, the Danvers farm was suffering from debt and Maggie did all that she could to help out.

 

Including taking certain payments from the Lord’s, Edge’s and Daxam’s to overlook certain actions they took in their business practices.

 

Still, it wasn’t Maggie’s fault that Kara made the impulsively stupid decision to punch Max in the face because he pushed her particularly huge red button.

 

“No, I’m fine,” she said softly.

 

“You don’t want to make your phone call?”

 

Kara shrugged, not moving her eyes from their spot on the ceiling.

 

“Who to? Everyone in town will know by now anyway…”

 

The blonde tilted her head so she could stare at Maggie sideways.

 

“Taking you a while to process that paperwork though… I’ve been here all day.”

 

The officer leant back in her seat, eyeing Kara with a guarded look.

 

“Systems down.”

 

The blonde arched an eyebrow.

 

“System was up when Lord got bailed out. Funny that.”

 

Hours ago as he marched out of the station flanked by his father who smiled smugly at the blonde the whole time.

 

Maggie let out another sigh, before speaking in a regretful voice.

 

“Kara-“

 

She was interrupted by the sound of the station door slamming and a furious Alex Danvers stalking into the room and slamming a hand down on her girlfriend’s desk.

 

“Now you’ve arrested her? Jesus Christ, Maggie. Whose side are you on!”

 

The officer stood to her feet and let out a weary breath.

 

“She punched Lord right in front of me, Alex. What the hell was I supposed to do? I’m a cop, in case you’ve forgotten.”

 

Kara watched the exchange silently, biting her tongue to stop herself from interfering with an argument that had surely been in the making for a long time.

 

Alex leant across the desk, towering over the other woman with a scowl.

 

“You’re their private security. They whistle and you come running like a dog.”

 

The truth of the words sat in the air and all three of them held their breath.

 

Maggie waited a second before glancing in Kara’s direction and speaking in a low hiss.

 

“You don’t complain when I give you my paycheck every month. You don’t say anything then.”

 

Kara groaned internally and her redheaded best friend bristled with rage.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She asked in a shrill voice.

 

The sheriff clenched her fist.

 

“High and mighty isn’t a good look on you, Alex. Don’t pretend that you’re above me when it comes to questions of morality… or honesty.”

 

A flash of hurt crossed Alex’s face and she seemed to fold in on herself.

 

“Stop it,” she whispered.

 

The detective walked around from behind the desk and stepped into the other woman’s space.

 

“Stop what?” She questioned with a mirthless laugh. “I’ve put everything on hold in my life for you, Alex. This was supposed to be a temporary posting for me. Instead, I’ve been here for years, sneaking around in a relationship with a woman who's too ashamed of herself to be with me out in the open. I’m pushing thirty, Alex. I want more in my life than a hidden affair with someone who never wants to move out of their childhood home.”

 

Alex’s face hardened, but the storm of emotions that crossed her face before it happened was obvious to read.

 

Anger and hurt.

 

Despair.

 

“Then leave!” The redhead shouted out. "Go! Christ, I never asked you to-“

 

Maggie cut her off by touching her face tenderly.

 

“To love you?” She whispered out. “To try and offer you something more than this place?”

 

Alex’s eyes brimmed with tears, but she backed away from the touch.

 

“This place? This place is my home, Maggie. My family, my life… nothing I am would exist without it.”

 

Her eyes darted to Kara, mirroring the same feeling she spoke of before she turned to look at Maggie again.

 

“But I wouldn’t expect someone like you to get that,” she breathed out. “To get what that level of commitment and honour means.”

 

The shorter woman’s face tightened before she fumbled behind her desk for her hat and keys.

 

“The difference is that I would give everything for you,” Maggie whispered out, before striding towards the door.

 

“And you’ll never be able to say the same.”

 

The door closed behind her gently and Alex let out a shuddering breath.

 

“Well… you handled that crappily,” Kara said from her place on her cot.

 

The redhead turned to her with a furious expression and walked towards the bars until she was leaning against them.

 

“Of all people… you should understand where I’m coming from.”

 

There were layers of meaning to the redhead’s words, which Kara didn’t appreciate in her current mood.

 

“Oh I do,” the blonde said before standing up abruptly so she could look Alex dead in the eye.

 

"But you’re still being a dick. Maggie’s just doing her job and I don’t need you to defend me.”

 

She said it said it spitefully, annoyed with herself for more than a few reasons today and was satisfied to see the pain in Alex’s eyes that followed her words.

 

“You’re a fucking hypocrite, you know that?” The redhead muttered out.

 

Kara let out a mirthless laugh.

 

“Just because I’m heading down in flames… it doesn’t mean you have to follow my blaze of glory.”

 

The farmer sat down again on the edge of her bed and start bitterly into a darker corner of the station.

 

“What the hell is going on with you, Kara?” Alex asked, confusion and concern obvious.

 

“Fuck… I knew you going to that meeting last night would mess with your head.”

 

Unbidden, an image of the Luthor woman sprang into Kara’s mind and the way she had smiled at her this morning.

 

A swell of rage grew and she faced her friend with a snarl.

 

“Stop analysing me, Alex… Why don’t you sort out your own shit before you try to fix my head.”

 

The shorthaired woman spat on the ground in front of her feet.

 

“Fuck you,” she said before walking out of the station, leaving Kara completely alone.

 

* * *

 

She wasn’t aware how many minutes or hours she had been asleep, but by the time she woke up the fluorescent lights in the station were on and Maggie was back at her desk, typing on her computer silently.

 

Kara’s eyes shifted to see an unimpressed Cat Grant standing in front of the cell and giving her a look of such disappointment that the blonde farmer felt like melting into the mattress.

 

“Did you have to hit him?” The older woman asked with a shake of her head. “You realise now you’ve just given him the perfect excuse to sue you?”

 

Kara groaned as she sat up, her head still throbbing, and scuffed her boots against the concrete floor.

 

“Let him try…. I’ll make sure it’s a long and drawn-out process,” she said gruffly.

 

Cat looked pissed off at her words, and her nails scratched the bars she was holding onto.

 

“Christ Keira, stop playing the martyr and use your head,” she bit out with a hiss. “You keep allowing your emotions to dictate your actions like this and you’ll be left with nothing but debt and bad memories. You’ve got to play smart if you want to win this fight.”

 

The blonde frowned and crossed her arms.

 

“I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeves,” she muttered out.

 

The older woman sniffed.

 

“What? Antagonising the Luthor woman and everyone who supports her bid? Incredible decision-making skills, Keira.”

 

If there was one thing that rankled Kara, it was Cat insisting on calling her by that ridiculous name. Something she only used when she thought that the farmer was being particularly stupid.

 

Which was often.

 

“I don’t need another fucking lecture, Cat,” Kara responded snakily. “Today’s been shit enough.”

 

The older farmer was unfazed by her tone.

 

“Well, evidently you still need to pull your head out of your arse because the lesson hasn’t stuck.”

 

Kara felt a hint of shame crawl up her neck, the utter disappointment in the older woman’s voice eating at her.

 

Cat took a deep breath before she continued.

 

“Have you forgotten everything I’ve ever taught you?” She asked. “This isn’t a game you’re going to win by being virtuous and in the daylight… You’ve got to play dirty.”

 

Maggie let out a groan from behind Cat, which Kara and the older woman promptly ignored.

 

The blonde farmer stared hard at the other woman for a minute before speaking in a steely voice.

 

“Are you telling me to break the law while I sit in a cell, Cat?” She asked.

 

The older farmer tilted her head slightly.

 

“I’m telling you… to play it smart,” she said slowly. “The Lord’s, Edge… hell even the Daxam’s, they’re just small fry.”

 

The older woman spoke lower, her eyes burning intensely.

 

“If you really want to stop this sale from happening, you find the brick that can bring the whole thing tumbling down and smash it with a sledgehammer as hard as you can.”

 

A wave of understanding crashed over Kara about what Cat was inferring.

 

Her thoughts flooded with images of Lena and she frowned before standing to her feet.

 

“That would imply that the brick has a flaw,” she said slowly.

 

Cat arched an eyebrow at her.

 

“Dig a little, Kara… you’ll find the cracks to hammer,” she said slyly, her voice filled with innuendo.

 

The young farmer flushed a deep red and her ears burned when Maggie coughed awkwardly behind them.

 

Kara looked down at her feet an shook her head.

 

“I’m not like you, Cat… I can’t play and… and manipulate-“

 

The other woman cut her off.

 

“I’d do it myself, but suffice it to say I think you’re more her type-“

 

“CAT!” Kara exclaimed, willing with every fibre of her being for the older woman to shut up.

 

Cat let out a chuckle.

 

“Don’t try and tell me you haven’t thought about it.”

 

The blue-eyed woman shook her head and walked back to her cot.

 

“I don’t have time for this,” she grumbled out.

 

“You’re stuck in jail for the night, that would you afford some time to think,” Cat answered.

 

Kara gave her a look of alarm.

 

“A night? I thought you were here to bail me out?”

 

The other woman let out a laughter full of derision.

 

“What on earth gave you that impression?”

 

The younger woman looked at Cat pleadingly.

 

“Please, Cat. Alex is pissed at me and there’s no way I’m calling Sam down for this when I’m supposed to be setting a good example for Ruby.”

 

Cat shrugged.

 

“And how this is my problem?”

 

Kara stared at her silently, before speaking in a pained voice.

 

“…I can’t leave Dad alone for the night.”

 

“By that you mean you need to get him more whisky-“

 

The blonde cut the other woman off with a harsh bark.

 

“Stop it,” she demanded.

 

They stared at each other, and uncomfortable air settling between them for a few seconds, when Cat groaned and began to rummage in her purse.

 

“…I do this once and only once, Keira,” she said simply, before turning to face Maggie and gesturing for the paperwork she wanted to sign. “And you better be front and centre for the next three musters.”

 

The blonde let out a breath.

 

“Deal.”

 

* * *

 

Kara closed the door behind her with a sigh, resisting the urge to rub her eyes, only to be greeted by her overzealous dog who practically jumped into her arms with joy. The blonde smiled and reached down to scratch his ears quickly before beginning to make her way down the hall in the hope of getting a good nights rest for once in her life. She barely made it half a metre, when her father appeared from around a corner.

 

“Where have you been?”

 

  
He said the words angrily and with a drunken slur that immediately made Kara sink inside herself slightly.

 

Clearly, he had forgotten everything that had occurred today with the Lord’s and Kara had no interest in reminding him. She pushed past his figure ad made her way into the kitchen, making to pour herself a glass of water.

 

Her father followed her, his shuffling steps echoing down the hall.

 

“I said, where have you been?”

 

She swallowed the glass quickly, before replying without turning.

 

“In town,” she said simply.

 

He huffed and began to speak in a scolding tone.

 

“You’re always in town or driving to town, Kara. Do you have any idea how much fuel that truck goes through? I’m not made of money-“

 

She gripped the counter tightly, before cutting him off with a snap.

 

“The only one making any money around here is me.”

 

An ugly silence stretched before her father spoke again.

 

“This is still my farm, Kara. My name is still on the title.”

 

The entitlement reeked from his voice and suddenly the weight of Kara’s day and everything she had to put up with suddenly exploded inside her chest and she turned to face her father with a thunderous expression.

 

“Yeah, I forgot,” she sounded out harshly. “This is still your farm.”

 

She threw her glass against the wall and watched it shatter before continuing.

 

“Your farm, that’s going broke. Your farm that’s seeing the worst drought in living memory. Your farm that has no livestock or water or half the time FUCKING ELECTRICITY!”

 

Kara took a few steps forward until she could see her father’s face clearly.

 

“And what have you done this whole time, Dad? NOTHING! I’ve been the one working ‘your’ farm to make sure that we don’t end up with nothing. I’ve been the one up at the crack of dawn, taking what jobs I can so that we can be fed. SO THAT I CAN PAY FOR YOUR FUCKING BOOZE!”

 

He slammed his hand down onto the table at her words, swiping the dirty plates that were still stacked there so that they joined the shattered shards on the floor.

 

“DON’T YOU DARE TALK TO ME THAT WAY!” He screamed out, before jabbing his finger ruffle into his chest.

 

“If you hate it so much here, why do you bother to stay? You think you’re such a gift to the world, why don’t you go out to see it? Leave me, just like everyone else. This family used to be loyal to each other, we understood what that word meant.”

 

His lip curled and shook his head.

 

“That’s the problem with kids. Not one of you appreciates the value of work. Do you have any idea how hard I had to work when I was your age? ALL MY LIFE? And you want to whine-“

 

His words swirled in front of her until she couldn’t stand to hear them anymore.

 

“YOU’RE AN ALCOHOLIC ASSHOLE!” She screamed out, tears starting to rush from her eyes.

 

The man’s face filled with venom.

 

“I know, I know… you hate my guts, don’t you? You’d just love to see me dead, wouldn’t you? Maybe, for once… you could try to see things from my side? It’s a two-way street, Kara.”

 

Kara couldn’t stand to hear anymore and she stomped out the room, grabbing a full bottle of whisky on her way and leaving her father to himself in the kitchen. The porch door slammed open and she all but sprinted off the verandah until she was halfway into a field. The blonde let out a roar of frustration, tears starting to fall freely from the corners of her eyes as she sat on the still sun-warmed earth and took a burning swig of the bottle she had brought with her. She let the burn settle in her throat, but it did nothing to dull the hollow and familiar ache in her chest.

 

The pure exhaustion.

 

Before her thoughts could slip down familiar dark paths, Oscar settled beside her and nudged her side with a whimper. Kara felt a pang of guilt for her dog once again having to endure a screaming match between herself and her father, but couldn’t help but be warmed more by his constant presence than the dirt she sat on or the alcohol she was drinking.

 

The blonde farmer shuffled closer to the ruff-coated dog and buried her face in his neck, finally allowing the tears that had been building up all day to fall and be absorbed. Kara had long since accepted the fact that unlike other people, she would never have a chance to view her home as somewhere to stop and catch her breath. No matter how much her heart ached for everything this farm meant to her, the horrible memories were just as prominent. The only thing that kept her going most days was the memory of what once was. When her mother, uncle and aunt were still alive and her cousin were all still here.

 

When the house was filled with laughter, instead of screams and she could look at her father without feeling a guilt-laced sense of disgust.

 

When she didn’t have to worry about abstract city officials buying her out of her home and whether or not she could stop it from happening.

 

And how she was supposed to stop it from happening.

 

She took another sip, the burn becoming more familiar before she looked down at the bottle with a hint of disgust.

 

The Zorels always had the inclination for the drink. Kara’s father in particular. But it was usually restricted to a passionate and raucous evening of laughter and singing after a successful muster of sale while the children ran around the BBQ. The fourth of July parties at the Zorel farm used to be legendary. As had the Christmas parties and birthday parties. A hum of fun and joy while the men would stand and sway with their wives to bad country music and slept late the next day.

 

Times became leaner, the bottle was leaned on more and more after a hard day. And times had already become difficult when Kara’s aunt and uncle died, leaving a stricken teenage Clark orphaned and then the rest of their family shattered.

 

Then Kara’s mother died a few years later and Clark left.

 

The only thing left to console after the loss of nearly everyone that he loved was his pubescent daughter and his drink.

 

There were no more parties at the Zorel farm after that.

 

Kara let out a sigh, mad at herself for getting lost in the mad tumbleweeds of her own thoughts and madder still for reaching enough of a breaking point to give in to her no drinking rule for her own sense of comfort. It was times like this when she understood her father’s need to numb everything out and drown out the weight of his bad decisions.

 

Or the results of his lack of decisions.

 

She didn’t want to go down the same path as her father, in fact, she’d sworn to herself more than once that she wouldn’t. But when her whole world and future seemed to be burning around her, Kara honestly didn’t see the point in resisting her disaster of a heritage.

 

Tragedy, death and drink.

 

Doomed to be a failure, especially now that she had fucked up as badly as she had today. As much as she hated to admit it, Cat was right. She had given the Lord’s the perfect ammo to coerce her into selling her land. Holding the threat of a lawsuit, threatening to press charges just to make sure she did as she was told and backed down.

 

Kara was just one broken woman trying to look after a parcel of land and an alcoholic father, with no money or connections to back her up. It wasn’t easy to stand up to an assortment of rich assholes at the best of times, but adding a billionaire heiress and a lawsuit to the mix was just adding to a wave of shit that had already reached her shores.

 

The blonde took another wig, feeling a need to grab onto the earth to keep herself steady, trying to forget the implication of Cat’s words to her. The older woman wasn’t stupid, she was well aware that Kara had leanings towards pretty girls as well as men. But beyond a few brief encounters the blonde had with the seasonal workers from out of town that Cat sometimes hired, Kara hadn’t really explored the possibility of romance.

 

Even if she had no desire to go through the amount of homophobic crap that would surely swell, romantic entanglements in her current situation wouldn’t really be fair to anyone. Only adding fat to fire that was the dumpster fire of her life. But what Cat was suggesting…

 

Kara had done limited research into Lena Luthor’s personal life, far more interested in her infamous work reputation, but to look up the name Luthor was to met with scandal. And Lena Luthor’s divorce had been splashed all over the internet. The blonde hadn’t delved far into why the divorce had occurred, but it was to a woman.

 

Which meant, that theoretically, if she was to try to….

 

Well, at least she was the right gender.

 

Kara let out a hiccough a gurgle of bile growing in her stomach at the very thought of doing what Cat was nudging her to do. It’s not like Kara took pleasure in the laws she already broke to get by, her morals only quieted by the fact that financially her options were few and far between. But the very idea of trying to seduce someone to get her way.

 

She wasn’t that person, she didn’t want to be that person.

 

Kara let out a groan.

 

The blonde farmer wasn’t blind, Lena Luthor was stunning. But the very thought process was stupid, while the woman no doubt had a vicious temper and barely suppressed rage she wasn’t stupid. Kara hardly doubted she would ever be Casanova enough to convince the woman not to do her job just by batting her eyelashes and feeding her ice cream.

 

Later, the blonde would put it down to the drink that her thoughts lingered on the image of the Luthor woman licking an ice cream cone.

 

The farmer shook her head and for the first time felt a flicker of amusement grow in her chest. In this shit pile of a day at least Cat had given her something to laugh about.

 

Kara turned her head slightly to see that the lights had been turned off in the house. No doubt, her father couldn’t be bothered to wait up for her to yell some more and had gone to bed. She felt a pang of envy at the fact that while she was going to have to carry the weight of both their shouted words and screams, her dad would have forgotten it all by morning.

 

She felt the usual guilt flare up slightly because of what she said, but it was easily outweighed by her drunk and stubborn self-reassuring her that all she had done was tell the truth. Kara lay back gently on the ground and for the first time allowed her eyes to absorb to the scattered and wondrous pattern of stars painted across the open sky.

 

Kara let out a breath and a small flare of happiness sprung in her chest.

 

Some things were worth it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did we think? Let me know in the comments below :)


	4. Falling Down Builds Character

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello :) Another week, another chapter! Hope you guys enjoy and make sure to let me know what you think.
> 
> Songs for this chapter;
> 
> Party Of One - Brandi Carlile 
> 
> Here You Come Again - Dolly Parton
> 
> Closer to You - Brandi Carlile

On the list of terrible weeks in Lena’s life, this one didn’t even rank in the top five. A Luthor’s life was notorious for trouble, at least that’s what Grandpa Wallace always said in every biography. Their family had Irish ties, but there were accounts of Luthor’s roaming street gangs in London as early as 1888. Samuel and David Luthor had moved to make their fortune in England as young men but found the situation dire. Evidently, there had been a falling out between the brothers. David going on to become a prominent figure in the East End High Rip gang, while Samuel…

 

Well, the Jack the Ripper murders had never been solved. 

 

After that, there we a various pop up throughout history. There had been a younger son that took the altruistic branch and became a soldier, fighting in France during World War One, but the remainder of the family had continued down their darker path. Immigrating to America and setting up with the Irish Mob in New York. When prohibition came about there was a falling out between the Vincent Luthor and Bill Dwyer, leading the former’s murder. The remaining family moved to Metropolis, setting up shop in the emerging city and for the first time in their lives, the Luthor’s began to make money. 

 

Unwilling to lose their newfound power and authority, the family expanded into all areas. Setting up what would later become Luthor Corp, entering politics and bribing their way into all aspects of the city. 

 

The family had grown smaller over the years until only Lionel remained. The sole heir of a blood-splattered line decided to reinvent the family name, shifting away from everything the family had known and been over the last century. 

 

Lionel had been no angel, but dubious business deals aside her father had managed to keep his hands clean for the majority of his life. Lena, presumably being his only indiscretion. 

 

The inclusion and adoption of Lena into the family after Lionel’s affair and her birth mother’s death had been a bitter pill to swallow for her father’s wife, Lillian. Fortunately, her adoptive mother’s desire to maintain their ‘good’ reputation had overcome all else and the adoption had been quick, clean and quiet. The situation had been smoothed over by Lex’s obvious attachment to his younger sister and Lionel’s insistence that as far as sins committed by the Luthor family, adopting the bastard child didn’t even rank in the top twenty. 

 

Where Lex was Lionel’s heir, Lena was her father’s darling. Treated to everything money could buy, combined with an extremely high intellect and the best education money could buy she was a force to be reckoned with and the rising star.

 

Then the cracks began to form. Lena came out as a lesbian, something Lillian abhorred and Lionel tolerated. Her father died soon afterwards, something to this day her adoptive mother insisted was entirely her fault. 

 

It hadn’t bothered Lena, Lillian had always been a bitch, but Lex had been infuriated by the accusation. He was the one to cut their mother a deal where she would be looked after for the remainder of her life, so long as she stayed away.

 

As in, on the next continent.

 

Lena adored her brother for that and she had skyrocketed to the position of CFO in her early twenties. 

 

Then she met Veronica and things just seemed to go downhill from there.

 

And here she was, a divorced thirty-year-old paying alimony out of her arse while working in a job that inspired no creativity or science of any sort while dealing with slimy gits like Morgan Edge to get what she wanted and being stuck in the middle of nowhere.

 

And waking up each morning in a pool of her own sweat due to the shitty room she was forced to stay in. 

 

J’onn had been true to his word and sent someone around to instal the air conditioner, but it ran so loudly that Lena thought she would get a better nights sleep next to a monster truck rally. Thus, she woke up every morning under scratchy sheets and a fog of heat descending on her. Followed by a breakfast that made the brunette wonder if the people in small towns could cook anything without a mountain of grease.

 

Fortunately, the mechanic, James Olsen, had returned from his honeymoon so Lena was able to get her car repaired. It was much preferable to being picked up each day by Mike, sent by Rhea, so she could inspect the properties in the area and begin tentative negotiations. 

 

The man was a notorious flirt (and a bad one at that) and seemed completely unswayed by her total lack of interest. It was a gift when she was finally able to drive herself once again. 

 

The reception she had in the area had been mixed, to say the least. There were the farmers like Rhea and Edge, who had nothing but greed in their eyes and dreams of money and escape from the wasteland that was this place. Not that Lena could blame them, but they irritated her to no end. 

 

There were the mix of people in town that looked at her as if they would catch bubonic plague if they stepped too close, not that Lena minded considering the main gossip in town the during the last week had been about Mr O’Briens escaped chickens… 

 

Not exactly an intriguing political debate.

 

Then there were the shrewder farmers, people similar to Kara who seemed keen to understand exactly what Lena wanted so they could do the exact opposite. Stubborn types, who seemed to be of the mind that the younger Luthor was a snake. 

 

At least they were interesting.

 

Kara had fallen firmly into that category.

 

Over the past month, Lena had seen neither hide nor hair of the other woman though she managed to be brought up in nearly every conversation the brunette had, much to Lena’s fury. 

 

The whole town had been buzzing about Kara’s supposed assault on the younger Maxwell Lord. Though Lena highly doubted that the blonde had shot the man as the rumour mill said, it was intriguing none the less. 

 

Lena didn’t usually care for gossip, but she couldn’t help but absorb the random facts about the young blonde farmer she kept hearing. When she was paying for her car repairs, James’ office had been littered with photos and Kara was prominent in many of them alongside several other people. Somewhere from when James was a teenager, with a young Kara and another dark-haired boy around the mechanic’s age that she didn’t recognise. A few were the when James was older with his girlfriend, now wife, Lucy as well as a gaggle of other teens. Sam, Winn and Alex stood out too. Evidently, they had all lead the typical country upbringing. Photos of them riding, shooting and attending rodeos as well as weddings, christening and Christmas’. 

 

The most interesting by far though was their high school graduation photo, in which Kara was conspicuously absent. 

 

Lena shouldn’t be as interested in the other woman as she was, but she just couldn’t get her off her mind. Somewhere between the snakiness, arguing and oddly helpful attitude the brunette couldn’t help but want to know more about the other woman. 

 

She hadn’t had as much time as she would have preferred to focus on eviscerating her own interest in the blonde because it had been a busy few weeks. But the brunette revelled in the work. At least it kept her distracted enough that she could ignore phone calls from her ex. She had taken over a table in the library, morphing it into a makeshift desk so she could do her paperwork and keep in contact with company headquarters in National City. 

 

Sam seemed nice enough, leaving her alone and letting her do her work. It was something that the brunette found odd, someone being genuinely polite, but there seemed to be a few of those scattered about in town. Over the past few weeks, Lena seemed to have met the entire population of Argo save one.

 

Cat Grant.

 

Lena had done her research, Cat Grant was in the top tier of farmers in the area. Up there with the Daxam’s, Lord’s and Edge’s, but unlike those three she seemed to have zero interest in selling. A tough woman, she had inherited the land in unusual circumstances. Working her way up from nothing as a farmhand at a local ranch, Grant had found herself in the space of a few years as the property manager. A few years passed, and the profit margin boomed under the woman’s leadership until the old owner had died and his son inherited. In the space of six months the farm's profits had nosedived, mainly due to the new owner’s wife interference it seemed, so Cat was fired and once again left with nothing. 

 

She disappeared for three years after that, only to reappear in the area with considerably richer. No one seemed to know how the woman had come into possession of such a fortune, but the first thing she had done once she returned was to buy out the farm where she used to work.

 

Two years later, the previous owner had divorced his first wife and married Cat. 

 

There was no doubt in Lena’s mind that Cat Grant would be the biggest player she needed to get on her side if she wanted the sale of the area to go through. 

 

So that’s why today the brunette found herself speeding down the paved driveway towards Cat’s ranch. It was rich land, though the drought had been hitting it as hard as everywhere else. But Cat had managed to keep the majority of her livestock through meticulous planning. But a few well-placed calls on Lena’s part had revealed that in the last few months Grant had been forced to take out a loan against her stock, hopefully, to be returned by the end of the season when the county had it’s biggest cattle sale at the nearby Kandor. 

 

If Lena could pry away at the obvious weakness… well.

 

The best thing to do first was to get a measure on the woman and then she would form a battle plan on how to approach it.

 

The brunette’s sidled to a stop and she looked around for a sign of somebody, it was only once she exited the car that she heard the sounds of shouting voices and cattle from somewhere behind the main house. 

 

Lena was tempted to go and see what all the commotion was about when the front door of the house opened to reveal a young teenage boy with short wavy hair.

 

“Can I help you?” He asked curiously, his eyes drifting to her car with awe. 

 

“My name’s Lena Luthor,” the brunette answered, resisting the urge to laugh at the way the boy was looking adoringly at her car. “I’m looking for Cat Grant, do you know where she is?”

 

The boy took a few steps towards the car, his hand outstretched and hovering over its bonnet.

 

“So cool,” he whispered.

 

“Yes,” Lena drawled, bringing the now blushing boy’s attention back to herself. “It is rather nice. 

 

The boy's eyes flickered down to the ground, shuffling his feet and releasing small clouds of dust.

 

“Do you know where Ms Grant is?” She asked once more.

 

The boy nodded and pointed in the direction of the loud voices and animal noises.

 

“Yeah, she’s out back helping with the draft.”

 

“The what?” The brunette asked.

 

The boy blinked at her owlishly, confused by her lack of knowledge.

 

“The cattle draft,” he explained. “The calves are getting tagged and all the mob’s getting sprayed. All hands on deck.”

 

He said the last words by rote and with a slight eye roll.

 

The businesswoman noted it and filed it away.

 

“I see…” she responded. “And who are you?”

 

The boy smiled and puffed out his chest slightly.

 

“I’m Carter. Carter Grant.”

 

Lena arched an eyebrow at that. There hadn’t been a whole lot to find out about Cat beyond what she already knew, but nobody in town had mentioned the older woman had a kid.  


 

“You’re Ms Grant’s son?” She questioned and at the boy’s nod, the dark-haired woman pressed forward.

 

“Can you take me to see her?”

 

The boy grew uncertain at her request, for the first time eyeing her warily.

 

“I guess,” he muttered. “But she doesn’t like being interrupted when she’s working….”

 

Lena flashed the boy her most charming smile, making the teen flush bright red.

  
“This is important and I can handle someone being annoyed at me,” she said with a laugh and a quick wink. “It’s practically my whole job.”

 

The boy smiled at her and began to walk, waving for her to follow him.

 

“Clearly you’ve never met my mom,” he said cheerily. “But I’ll take you around.”

 

The brunette followed the boy quickly, taking note of the expensive farmhouse and the multiple modern and outfitted barns with interest. Out of all the farmers in the area, Cat was probably doing the best financially. From a brief glance, her land looked to be in the best condition but Lena wouldn’t get a chance to find out until she did a proper inspection of the farm. 

 

As they got closer to the commotion, Lena couldn’t help but notice with some degree of amusement that Carter kept shooting her furtive glances and the businesswoman decided to humour the obvious crush he was nursing. 

 

“So if all hands are on deck, why aren’t you helping your mom?” She asked him with an arched eyebrow, that almost made him trip. “I thought kids in the country started working the land the second they’re born.”

 

She clearly hit a nerve with her words, because the teen immediately scowled.

 

“Mom doesn’t want me doing anything too dangerous,” he muttered out, before continuing in a more earnest voice. “But I help out when I can!”

 

The boy half smiled.

 

“Mom says I should focus on my school work so I can go to a good college, but sometimes Kara takes me along to help her when Mom isn’t looking,” he said with a botched attempt at his own wink, but Lena was too shocked by the name drop to notice. 

 

“Kara?” She asked with a squeak in her voice that immediately made her wince in annoyance.

 

The boy didn’t notice her shock, instead nodding earnestly and lost in a happy memory.

 

“Yeah, she’s awesome!” He exclaimed. “She taught me how to ride a horse, you know.”

 

_How in the hell does the girl manage to simultaneously be everywhere and nowhere all at once? Swanning in like a white knight in every scenario. Picking up stranded people on the roadside and teaching teenagers how to ride…_

 

“Sounds…incredible,” she muttered out in a bitter enough tone that even the starstruck boy managed to notice.

 

Before he could question her, however, they rounded the corner of one of the barns and the stockyards finally came into sight. It was jammed full of clambering cattle, mooing and shuffling while a pair of male farmhands separated mothers and claves into two separate holding pens. Another older woman that Lena recognised as Cat herself from her first night in Argo, was running the separated calves through the race with a degree of agility and speed that Lena found impressive. 

 

But the person that drew Lena’s eye, was the figure of Kara stripped down to a dirt-stained tank top heaving the giant metal contraption at the end of the race closed singlehandedly and capturing the calves heads before they could escape. While Lena didn’t relish the sight of the sound calves being ear tagged, she could appreciate the certain art and efficiency the group had nailed down when it came to doing their jobs. 

 

Her eyes lingered on the sight of Kara’s gleaming biceps and a shiver went down her spine.

 

Definitely an art to it.

 

Lena’s thoughts were interrupted when the blonde turned from releasing a calf and spotted her. Kara blinked once, before speaking to Cat quickly and pointing in the business woman’s direction. The older woman glanced over and frowned when she spotted her son, before making her way around the packed yards and hopping the gate while Kara took a break and the work in the yards ground to a halt. 

 

Cat strode towards them quickly, all but ignoring Lena and turning to look at her son with her hands resting on her hips.

 

“Carter, what are you doing out here?” She questioned briskly.

 

The boy frowned at his mother’s tone and nodded in Lena’s direction.

 

“Ms Luthor wanted to talk to you,” he mumbled.

 

The shorthaired woman finally turned to look at her and eyed her up and down with a discerning gaze that Lena thought could put some CEO’s to shame. 

 

“Does she now?”

 

Lena stretched out her hand in greeting.

 

“I just wanted to come and introduce myself-“

 

The woman cut her off with a curt hand gesture.

 

“I know what you came here for, Ms Luthor,” she barked out, before turning back to look at her son who was eyeing the yards, particularly Kara, with interest. 

 

“Carter, go back inside and finish your homework.”

 

The boy made a sound of protest and his eyes widened dramatically.

 

“But Mom, I want to help!” he exclaimed loudly, starling the cows at the fence back a step.

 

Cat let out a tired sigh and rubbed the side of her head.

 

“Carter,” she began in a placating tone. “For the thousandth time, you need to work your mind, not the farm.”

 

The words did nothing to soothe the teen's annoyance.

 

“But-“ he tried to protest but was cut off by his mother’s firm glare.

 

“Carter!” She barked.

 

His face flushed even deeper than before and a scowl that mimicked his mother’s in ferocity. 

 

“Fine!” He screamed out, really making the cows jump before he turned on his heel and stomped his way back towards the farmhouse.

 

Lena watched him go before turning back around to see Cat measuring her carefully with her hawk-like gaze. The brunette tried to break the silence between them before it became too awkward.

 

“Ms Grant-“

 

The woman cut her off for the second time.

 

“Ms Luthor,” she said briskly with a voice laced in dry sarcasm. "In case you hadn’t noticed I am in the middle of work. I don’t have time for you, unfortunately. In future, if you want to speak to me you should probably set up a meeting.”

 

The woman turned and began to walk back towards the yards. 

 

Lena hesitated for half a second, before making the choice to follow her.  


 

“Ms Grant please, this issue isn’t going to go away,” she said with an edge of warning in her voice.

 

The woman stopped at her words, before turning to give her a cold look.

 

“And what issue would that be, Ms Luthor?” She asked.

 

Lena stopped, trying to overcome her unusual flustered state from seeing Kara working in the yards and remember exactly who she was and what her job entailed.

 

“The sale of this land is inevitable, Ms Grant,” she said matter of factually.

 

Cat let out a bark of laughter.

 

“I beg to differ,” she said simply, before ducking through the gap in the yard railings and leaving the brunette on the other side.

 

The shorthaired woman shifted quickly through the press of bodies and the brunette shifted quickly around the fence to try and keep the other woman in her sights.

 

“Ms Grant-“ She called out but was interrupted by a man’s yell.

 

“Hey, look out!”

 

Lena heard the shout from behind her and turned her head, noting with horror that a cow had escaped from the yards and was pawing the ground with flared nostrils, clearly enraged. The brunette stood stock still in shock as the creature turned it’s furious gaze on her and began to charge. 

 

She stood rooted to the spot and helpless, bracing for the thousand pound creature to plough her down. But suddenly, she was pushed roughly to the side by someone else and into the dirt. Lena spluttered for a microsecond, before turning on her back to see none other than Kara standing hovering over her while the cow mowed past where she had just been standing. The blonde farmer jumped to the side, waving her arms to get the beast’s attention.

 

“Hey, hey! Over here girl, C'mon,” the blonde shouted, drawing the cow’s eye while Lena scrambled backwards..

 

“Now, now… if you’re going to go for someone it should be me. I was the one in the yards,” Kara said in a soothing voice.

 

The cow stood unsteadily as if trying to decide whether or not she should charge again and the blonde took a few small steps forward while gesturing for one of the other hand’s to open a side pen. 

 

“C’mon girl, easy does it. How about, instead of trampling city slickers you go back in that pen there. Then we’ll see about getting you back with your calf and out on the field.”

 

The cow was settling down, her eyes riveted on the blonde as the farmer took a few more steps forward.

 

“What d’ya say, girl? Does that sound good?”

 

The cow turned her head at the blonde’s words and bolted into the open pen, the farmhand holding the gate slamming it behind her.

 

“How the hell did she get out?” Cat’s voice demanded furiously as she hopped the fence and turned on a sheepish looking male farmhand.

 

The man turned white as a sheet with fear, but Kara quickly stepped forward and intercepted the furious older woman.

 

“It wasn’t Demos’ fault, Cat,” she said easily, drawing the other woman’s focus. “I should have been manning the gate as we drafted, not him.”

 

The woman visibly softened, touching the other woman’s shoulder quickly.

 

“You can’t be everywhere, Kara,” she said gently before turning her eyes back to the two male farmhands and taking a step forward into their space. 

 

“I expect better work from the idiots I’m paying!” She shouted out, making the men almost rip backwards. “Mistakes aren’t good enough, guys! Mistakes get people hurt or killed. Keep your eyes open, stop thinking about your hookup with a sheep and use your peabrains for something other than googling porn!”

 

The men muttered something under their breath and Lena tried not to snort at the fluid way the farmer berated them.

 

“Ms Luthor, are you alright?” A voice sounded out gently.

 

The brunette looked up from the ground to see a concerned Kara standing over her, her head haloed by the burning sun behind her.

 

Lena resisted the urge to roll her eyes and sat up carefully, trying not to wince at the throbbing in her ribs from the fall.

 

“I’m fine,” she muttered while pulling her hair out of her face.

 

Her movements were halted by Kara gently touching her wrist and crouching down so they were eye level.

 

“You’re bleeding,” she said with soft eyes, holding onto Lena’s hand so that the brunette could see the red streaks on it.

 

“Shit,” Lena swore, before reaching up to her head with her other hand and feeling around, finding the cut on her forehead easily and wincing as she touched it. 

 

The blonde cradled her face, startling the brunette, and inspected the cut with a frown before reaching into her back pocket and pulling out a clean handkerchief embroidered with the initials A.D and handing it wordlessly to the brunette. 

 

Lena nodded in thanks, before pressing the cloth to her head carefully.

 

The blonde looked like she was about to say something more, but was interrupted by Cat’s appearance next to them.

 

The woman looked down on the pair with a probing look before, eyeing the rapidly reddening handkerchief.

 

“Kara, help Ms Luthor,” she said sharply.

 

The young blonde farmer stood to her feet and began to protest.

 

“But Cat-“

 

The woman cut her off with a snap.

 

“For god sake, am I your boss or not?” She questioned with vehement fury. “Do as you're told.”

 

Without another word, she turned back to the yards and began to yell at the other farmhands to get thing moving in the yards again. 

 

Kara looked after her, frustrated before she turned back to Lena on the ground and held her hand out with a sigh of resignation.

 

“Give me your hand, I’ll take you into the house and patch you up.”

 

Lena scowled at the other woman’s despondent voice and moved to stand by herself, struggling to right herself firmly on the ground when she felt a head rush hit her hard.

 

“I don’t need your help,” she stubbornly bit out. “If you’d just direct me towards the first aid-“

 

The blonde farmer snapped at her words, stepping in front of her to make sure she couldn’t move towards the house.

 

“Oh for Christ’s sake woman, do you have to be so stubborn?” She questioned with an exasperated voice. “You’re bleeding from your head and you were almost trampled by a cow!”

 

The brunette winces at the shouting and Kara immediately softened, gently touching the bottom of the shorter woman’s chin so she was forced to look into her earnest blue eyes.

 

“Just let me help you,” she said softly.

 

Lena blinked, struck speechless for half a second before she conceded with a nod.

 

“Ok.”

 

The farmer nodded and began to gently guide her back towards the house, hovering next to her shoulder the whole way to make sure she didn’t fall. They reached the house without incident, the blonde guiding the green-eyed woman into the lavish and modern house carefully. Lena looked around quickly, noting the expensive and tasteful fixtures when they walked past the dining room where Carter looked up from his homework.

 

He spotted the bloody handkerchief quickly and scrambled to his feet.

 

“Kara, what’s going on?” The teen asked with wide eyes.

 

The blonde gave the boy a reassuring smile.

 

“Just a little accident, Carter,” she said softly.

 

The boy eyed the brunette with an edge of panic.

 

“Is she going to be ok?” He demanded.

 

Lena waved her hand, wincing at the pull of muscles on her side.

 

“I’ll be fine,” she answered with a pained smile.

 

He didn’t look like he believed her, but Kara waved him away with another grin.

 

“You hear that Carter?” The blonde said with an eye-roll that finally made the boy look less stressed. “She’s going to be fine.”

 

The woman nodded in the direction of the boy’s open textbooks.

 

"Why don’t you finish your homework and when you’re done I’ll take you riding.”

 

Carter’s face brightened considerably and he all but floated back towards his chair.

 

“Cool! Thanks, Kara.”

 

The blonde let out a laugh at his enthusiasm, before contouring to guide Lena down the hall and into the kitchen, sitting her down at the bench before rummaging under the sink.

 

The brunette watched her carefully, still keeping the pressure on the wound on her head.

 

“How is it you seem to be everywhere and know everyone around here?” She suddenly blurted out.

 

The blonde didn’t look up at her words, but the corner of her mouth turned up slightly.

 

“You grow up in a small town, you learn to remember people’s names,” she said easily, before standing to her feet and walking back towards the bench. 

 

She placed down the first aid kit and opened it up.

 

“And I’m not everywhere,” she continued, ripping open the foil on the antiseptic wipes. “I just work hard for a living. Cat helps me out a lot, so I return the favour.”

 

The blonde reached for Lena’s arm and began to clean the smaller cuts and grazes with gentler hands than the brunette expected.

 

She worked quietly for a few minutes, her eyes scrunched in concentration and Lena found herself oddly fascinated in the crinkle that formed between them.

 

Shaking her head, she blurted out another question. 

 

“And taking the boy riding? That’s returning the favour?” She asked.

 

Kara turned her hand over and began to work on the other side.

 

“No,” she said with a soft smile. “I’ve known Carter since he was born and he’s a good kid, just a little different. He sticks out in town and doesn’t have many friends. I keep an eye on him.”

 

Lena let out a snort.

 

“Should have known you were the hero type. A regular Supergirl.”

 

The other woman’s eyebrows rose at the brunette’s words and she shook her head with a wry grin.

 

“See, the way you say that makes me think that you’re insulting me,” she said softly. “But you’ve just been hit on the head pretty hard so I’ll let it slide.”

 

Lena’s heart began to beat at the smile the blonde directed her way and she quickly tried to shove it down. 

 

“ _You’re_ the reason I’m sitting in here bleeding,” she accused.

 

Kara gave her an annoyed glance, dabbing hard at a scratch and making Lena wince.

 

“Oh? Would you prefer to be dead?” She questioned. “Clearly you’ve never seen a mad cow before, but they aren’t nice when they get angry. Cows kill more people than sharks you know, by a long shot.”

 

Lena rolled her eyes.

 

“See what I mean? Supergirl,” she muttered out.

 

The blonde let out a breath.

 

“What does that even mean?” She questioned.

 

The businesswoman gave her a look full of derision.

 

“Oh, come on. The bad businesswoman from the big city intent on stealing your land almost gets run over and killed in a freak accident. Almost, because you just had to save my arse. Why on earth would you do that? If it was me, I would have chosen the convenient method of getting rid of your problem.”

 

Kara stopped her ministrations and sat back on her heels, absorbing her words and frowning down at the floor in thought.

 

“You want the pragmatic answer?” She asked finally.

 

Lena hesitated before giving the woman a quick nod.

 

“If you were trampled by a cow, it’d be a short-term fix,” Kara began to say quickly. “I know for a fact a lawsuit would be pending and Cat’s farm would be investigated for occupational health and safety. Then, you or your family would sue. And last of all, Luther Corp would just send someone else down to replace you. Granted, they might not be as clever but it still wouldn’t solve my problem.”

 

At the blonde’s words, Lena felt her stomach sink.

 

“Of course,” Kara continued in a livelier voice, bringing the business woman’s eye back to her own. “All that’s true, but the simple fact is you were in danger and I’m not an asshole.” 

 

The blue-eyed woman tilted her head.

 

“How shitty is your life that you take someone saving it with a grain of salt?” She asked.

 

Lena arched an eyebrow.

 

“ _You_ want to talk about shitty lives?” She demanded.

 

Kara held her hands up in surrender.

 

“Hey, hey now… no need for personal attacks, remember?”

 

Lena eyed her icily.

 

“Yes,” she muttered. “I wouldn’t want you to take a swing at me…”

 

The jab didn’t seem to affect Kara overmuch. Instead, she just resumed her work, carefully dabbing at the other woman’s wounds.

 

“Hmm, don’t worry… I only hit assholes. And no matter how much you want to pretend to be one, you’re not an asshole,” she said simply.

 

Lena frowned at the other woman’s words, eyeing her carefully.

 

“You know, I don’t get you,” she said bluntly. “You run around doing a million things at once, you look like hell and you’re far too intelligent for this town… What on earth are you doing here?”

 

Kara smiled at her words but shrugged.

 

“I told you before, this is my home,” she said simply.

 

The brunette rolled her eyes.

 

“Wasted potential,” she groaned.

 

Kara let out a melodic laugh that made Lena’s heart pound in her chest. 

 

“Wow,” the farmer said happily. “I better check you for a concussion, cause now you’re giving me compliments.”

 

“I just said you’re wasting your potential!” the brunette cried.

 

Kara gave her a half smile.

 

“The key thing being, that I have potential.”

 

A silence fell between them, only broken by Kara’s quiet work and the distant sound of cattle and men yelling. Lena felt herself get slowly lulled to sleep, aided oddly by the smell of antiseptic and the warm light filtering through the window. She was jolted out of it suddenly by the sound of Kara humming quietly under her breath.

 

Lena eyed her with surprise.

 

“You seem to be in a good mood at least,” she asked.

 

The blonde shrugged. 

  
“I’m always in a good mood after an honest days work,” she replied before pulling Lena’s hand and the cloth away from the cut on her forehead so she could clean and dab it with antiseptic.

 

“Since we sold our own herd, doing jobs for Cat in the only chance I have to do real ranch work with animals. It’s tough but worth it. It helps that I’m good at it.”

 

Lena winced at the sting on her head but eyed the blonde up and down.

 

“Hmmm…” she hummed out with a waver of pain in her voice. “You certainly have the ‘farmer’ look going for you. I surprised you actually own a shirt that isn’t flannel.”

 

Kara flushed lightly at Lena’s teasing.

 

“It’s a good all-around pattern,” she mumbled out. “Practical… and the right cut can work your figure.”

 

Lena privately agreed, but she wasn’t going to let the blonde know that.

 

“And the steel cap boots?” She questioned.

 

Kara shrugged.

 

“I work with heavy equipment and I like my toes.”

 

A wave of light headiness hit Lena like a freight train and she found herself mumbling out her next words.

 

“Or maybe you just like looking like a John Deere ad… All tall, blonde, blue-eyed and muscles…”

 

Kara gave her an alarmed look and quickly cupped her cheek so she could check her eyes.

 

“How hard did you hit your head?” She questioned.

 

Lena pushed her away, stopping herself from doing something stupid and waved the blonde off.

 

“I’m fine,” she muttered. "Just running my mouth…”

 

The blonde sighed and rolled her eyes, leaning back to rummage around in the first aid box once more.

 

“Whatever you say,” Kara said with a laugh before turning back to the brunet with a smile. “Now… do you want the regular bandaids or the dinosaur ones?”

 

Lena arched an eyebrow.

 

“Seriously?” She questioned.

 

The farmer plucked the plain band-aid from the box and unwrapped it with care. 

 

“Cat keeps them around for Carver,” she explained. “And I must admit I am fond.”

 

She gently stuck it to the business woman’s head and smoothed down the edges.

 

“There now,” the blonde said softly. “All better.”

 

The brunette stared up at the farmer and smirked.

 

“You’re not going to kiss it to make sure?”

 

Kara rolled her eyes.

 

“Pushing it, Luthor…” she growled out. “Now, you ok to stand?”

 

The brunette scowled.

 

“I’m fine.”

 

Kara held out her hand for the other woman to take, but Lena disregarded it in a burst of pride. 

 

Negated completely by stumbling from a head rush and practically falling into the blonde’s arms. Lena felt her cheek pressed against the surprisingly soft shirt Kara was wearing, absorbed in the smell of what was undeniably fabric softener and sweat when she noticed the farmer’s hands holding her hips steady.

 

“Easy there, townie,” the farmer rumbled out gently.

 

The businesswoman looked up, still dizzy, to stare into the other woman’s startling blue eyes. 

 

For some reason, Lena had the starling urge to kiss what looked like surprisingly soft lips when a sudden cough jolted the pair apart.

 

“Sorry to intrude, but this is my house and kitchen after all,” Cat’s dry voice sounded out, watching them with clear amusement dancing in her eyes,

 

Lena felt a wave of embarrassment, but Kara flushed from head to toe. 

 

“I’m not… you weren’t…I…” She stuttered out, only to be interrupted by the older woman.

 

“Keira, I know you’re busy trying to find your own tongue,” she said snakily. “But do you think it would be possible for you to get back to work? You know as well as me if you leave the boys alone too long we’ll end up with a stampede on our hands.”

 

Kara shuffled on her feet, sending a final glance Lena’s way, before striding out the door with a nod of acknowledgement to Cat.

 

The older woman turned to look at the brunette, eyeing her bandaged forehead.

 

“Kara patch you up alright?” She asked.

 

Lena nodded and flushed lightly, realising she was splattered in dirt and blood looking all around like a mess. 

 

Completely undermining the professional approach she wanted to take with this meeting.

 

“Yes,” she muttered. “Thank you.”

 

Cat watched her with pursed lips, something battling in her eyes before she let out a sigh and sat down at the bench. 

 

“I was thinking, Ms Luthor,” she said in a calm tone. “Since one of my cows almost killed you the least I could do is afford you a few minutes of my time.”

 

Lena rested the urge to thank God, chalking it up to her Irish Catholic roots as she took the seat opposite the other woman.

 

“Thank you, Ms Grant.”

 

* * *

 

After two hours of long discussion, Cat walked Lena out onto the porch and into the slowly dying light.

 

“Well as far as suits go, you aren’t half bad Luthor,” she said with a respectful smile. “You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to find someone with an intellect to speak with around here.”

 

Lena thought about the numerous interactions she’d had with townspeople over the past month.

 

“It isn’t that hard to imagine, Ms Grant. From my experience in this town, the majority of people around here would rather talk about each other than visit the library.”

 

Cat let out a long-suffering sigh.

 

“Alas, you’ve discovered our secret. But unfortunately, no matter how intelligent you are, Ms Luthor you still can’t change my mind. I have no interest in selling my land.”

 

Lena tried not to let her annoyance show on her face, but if the last two hours with Cat had proved anything it was that convincing her to sell would be the long game goal.

 

“It’s better to get out in front of this, Ms Grant. Luthor Corp will offer you a far better deal than the bank,” she said simply.

 

Cat shrugged her shoulders.

 

“Don’t count your chickens before they roost, Ms Luthor,” she said easily, before looking at the front of the house and eyeing the male farmhands from before and Kara, who were now carrying bags of grain from the back of a truck and into the barn. 

 

“But if you’re up for it,” she continued, turning back to Lena with a smile. “You’re welcome to take a tour of the land.”

 

The brunette was surprised but pleased with the new development.

 

“That would be great.”

 

Cat smiled slyly.

 

“Good,” she said briskly before whistling and letting out a yell. 

 

“Kara!”

 

The blonde looked up from her work, dumping the bag of grain back on the truck and trotting towards them.

 

Lena immediately connected the dots and began to protest.

 

“Oh no-“  


 

“Yes, boss?” Kara asked once she stood next to the pair.

 

Cat gestured towards the businesswoman.

 

“I want you to take Ms Luthor along the property lines,” the older farmer said easily, before turning to walk away and shouting back over her shoulder. “Make sure you show her Lowels Peak.”

 

Lena moved to protest. While she wanted to inspect the land, she desperately wanted to avoid interacting with Kara ever again. The weird attraction she had towards the blonde kept throwing her off balance and was starting to get in the way of her job.

 

“Ms Grant, that really isn’t necessary-“

 

The woman cut her off.

 

“No, I insist. You wanted to see the land and Kara will take you because at least for today Kara works for me.” 

 

Cat turned to the young farmer with an arched eyebrow.

 

“Don’t you Kara?”

 

Lena whipped her head to look at the young blonde, who let out an audible swallow.

 

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

The brunette resisted the urge to roller eyes.

 

“Great!” Cat exclaimed, before once again walking away. "Let me know when you’re back.”

 

Lena bit back a groan and turned to look at Kara who was eyeing her with a wariness that reflected exactly what the brunette was feeling.

 

The blonde scuffed her foot in the dirt and shoved her hands in her jean pockets.

 

“We gonna go, or what?” She asked gruffly.

 

Lena scoffed.

 

“I was waiting for you.”

 

Kara began to walk and waved the brunette along.

 

“Come on then,” she said quickly as she stood away.

 

The brunette followed quickly and silently, once again observing the surroundings closely as Kara led her in a new direction. After half a minute, they approached a new barn where the businesswoman heard horses snuffling around.

 

“Wait,” she suddenly questioned, making the other woman turn to look at her. “We aren’t going to ride are we?”

 

The blonde raised an eyebrow but continued to walk.

 

“You sound terrified by the prospect,” she responded.

 

Lena scoffed, growing uncomfortable, but felt a need to explain herself.

 

“My mother sent me to lessons as a child, the proper thing for any well-bred young lady is to take dressage lessons but they didn’t take. I had a mean horse and an even meaner instructor, so it wasn’t my favourite pastime. I forgot everything after the third time I was thrown. I prefer things with engines.”

 

Kara stopped in her tracks at the other woman’s words, her eyes flickering with interest at Lena’s words. The soft look quickly made the other woman grow uncomfortable, something the blonde picked up on and she began to walk again, leading them past the stables.  


 

“Cleary, you’ve never met the right horse,” the blonde responded. “It’s one of the greatest things on earth, riding into the sunset. Makes you feel more alive than anything on Earth.”

 

She said it wistfully and with a smile on her face that Lena thought was beautiful.

 

The brunette shook out her thoughts.

 

“Clearly,” she replied. “You’ve never been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans.”

 

Kara gasped and gave her an excited look.

 

“You’ve been to New Orleans?” She asked.

 

Lena couldn’t help but smile at the excited glint in the other woman’s eyes.

 

“I took my ex-wife there back when we were dating,” she said with a nod, reminiscing. “Best food in the world.”

 

They walked silently for a few more paces before Kara spoke with a cavalier voice.

 

“You’re divorced?” She asked innocently.

 

Lena rolled her eyes at the blonde’s tone.

 

“I like that you trying to pretend you didn’t know,” she said with a snort. “One google of my name and it’s the first thing that comes up.”

 

The words sat in the air and Lena’s mood darkened so considerably thinking about her ex that she almost missed Kara’s half-whispered words. 

 

“….I knew, but I didn’t… It’s got nothing to do with me so I didn’t read more.”

 

Lena blinked at the honesty in the blonde’s words.

 

“Not into gossip?” She questioned.

 

The farmer shook her head.

 

“Not when it isn’t relevant…” she said quietly, before gesturing Lena over to a parked truck with the Grant Farm logo on it. 

 

“C’mon, we're taking the truck.”  


 

They both jumped in and the car started quietly. 

 

Kara took her around the west edge of the farm first, showing her all the keys aspects, troughs, rock formations and cattle paths. It was a beautiful property and remarkably well maintained considering the financial situation of the area. Clearly, Cat Grant had her hands firmly on the reigns when it came to running this place.

 

It was only after half an hour of driving, that Kara brought up their previous conversation. 

 

“I’m sorry,” she began in an awkward voice. “About your divorce. Families are shit no matter where you live I guess.”

 

Lena scoffed at her words.

 

“Veronica isn’t family… she never really was, according to her. But yes, she is a bitch,” she spat out vehemently.

 

Kara gave her sidelong look, before turning onto an old road that led sharply uphill.

 

“You’ve still got your brother though, right?” The blonde asked, hitting a pothole on their path that made the brunette grip her armrest tightly.

 

“Yes,” Lena bit out while her knuckles turned white. “It’s just the two of us now unless you count our mother who lives in Europe.”

 

Kara nodded, jerking the truck around a tree stump.

 

“Sounds like you two are close?” She asked.

 

“We have to be,” Lena replied, getting annoyed at the constant questions and deciding to turn the tables. 

 

“What about you? Family?”

 

The blonde shrugged.

 

“I’ve got my dad and my friends, but no other family, not anymore.”

 

The brunette frowned at the sadness that clearly echoed in the other woman’s voice.

 

“I’m guessing it’s a touchy subject?” She asked, immediately questioning why she couldn’t seem to stop herself from talking to this annoying farmer.

 

“Not really,” the blonde said tightly, negating her words. “It is what it is. My uncle and aunt died in a car wreck a nearly a decade ago now and my mom passed about five years ago too. So it was just me, dad and my cousin Clark.”

 

Lena had never heard that name before.

 

“Where’s Clark now?” She asked.

 

Kara hesitated in her driving, hitting a particularly large hole that almost made Lena’s head hit the ceiling.  


 

“He left,” she said quickly. “Headed off to the big city for college and never came back.”

 

Lena’s mind began to race with possibilities and the clear pain in the other woman’s voice when aconnection formed in her mind.

 

“I think I saw a photo of him, you, and James when I was in James’ office,” Lena replied.

 

Kara shrugged once more, making a sharp turn along a narrower path.

 

“They used to be best friends.”

 

Lena arched an eyebrow.

 

“Used to?”

 

The blonde grunted.

 

“I told you, Clark left,” she said in an acidic voice. “Can’t really be friends with someone when you leave.”

 

“Ever heard of Facebook?” The brunette asked with a hint of tease.

 

Kara’s face began to darken.

 

“Internet’s shit around here, remember?” She muttered out.

 

“Why-“

 

The blonde jerked the wheel once more, making the brunette slam forward into her seatbelt.

 

“You ask a lot of questions, you know that right?” Kara demanded, giving Lena an annoyed look.

 

The brunette arched her eyebrow.

 

“So do you.”

 

The farmer’s eyes snapped with fury and for a second Lena thought that the blonde was going to scream at her. Instead, the woman took a deep breath and let her grip on the steering wheel loosen. 

 

“So I guess we should both prepare ourselves for a lot of disappointment then when it comes to each other,” she said easily, giving Lena a small smile that threw the brunette off balance.

 

Suddenly, a cold fist gripped the businesswoman’s heart.

 

“I’m just here to do my job, Ms Zorel,” she said icily.

 

Kara blinked at her, recoiling at her tone.

 

“I know that,” she said gently. "You remind me every time we talk… And I told you, my name is Kara,” she said with an eye-roll. 

 

“Keep calling me Ms Zorel and I’ll start to look around for an older aunt I’ve never met.”

 

Lena couldn’t help but let a laugh escape her slightly at the blonde’s exasperated tone, but it cut off quickly as they hit yet another hole.

 

“This is a… drive…” She muttered out.

 

The farmer smiled widely, making another turn before finally pulling to a halt and jumping out of the car.

 

“Yeah, it can be a bit bumpy on the way Lowell's,” she said with a laugh before starting to walk up a narrow footpath through some trees.

 

Lena followed her, growing breathless after twenty metres uphill. 

 

“Why did Cat want me to see this?” She huffed out. “I don’t need an overview of the land.”

 

Kara snorted, before stopping to hold a branch aside so Lena could walk ahead of her.

 

“It’s not about you getting an overview, it’s about you seeing the view.”

 

The brunette frowned but walked through the gap and into the sunlight.

 

“The view?” She questioned before turning ahead. “What….oh wow.”

 

They stood on the edge of a cliff, a spectacular landscape of the whole area laid out before them. The sun was setting, but Lena could still see Cat’s farmhouse down below as well as Argo in the far distance. 

 

Lena took it in silence when Kara let out a knowing laugh.

 

“Yeah, pretty amazing isn’t it?” She said, stepping behind Lena and pointing her hand out as if she were painting a picture. “You should see it when the rains come through, everything green and growing. And when the sun sets in bathes the land in purple light. It’s the most beautiful thing in the world.”

 

She said the words with such passion, that Lena could actually see in her mind the vision that she was describing. The brunette turned her head to look at Kara’s face next to her, bathed in fading light and creating shadows beneath her eyes.

 

_The most beautiful thing in the world…_

 

“How would you know,” Lena said suddenly, trying to shake herself out of her own thoughts. “When you haven’t seen the world?”

 

Kara turned her head, her eyes locking on to the brunette’s and flickering with blue fire.

 

“Fair call,” she said softly. “But I guess some things you just know in your heart.”

 

* * *

 

It was only once Lena managed to get home and allow her bruised body to relax slightly that she allowed her mind to race with thoughts of the day. Everything that had happened.

 

Everything with Kara.

 

It wasn’t easy, but she needed to distract herself and the only way she knew how to do that the days was by calling her brother.

 

He answered on the first ring with a throaty laugh, Lena instantly relaxing at the sound of his deep voice that had been a comfort to her ever since she was a child.

 

“Sister dearest…. how goes my land?” He asked, making Lena roll her eyes.

 

“It isn’t your land yet, Lex.”

 

The man hummed.

 

“The key word being yet… seen any rain?”

 

She rolled her eyes.

 

“You know as well as I, that it raining here is about as likely as Mary Poppins doing a striptease on London bridge.”

 

He laughed at her words.

 

“Oh, the joys of global warming… at least we can reap the rewards in this case.”

 

Lena groaned as she lay back on her bed and stared at the unmoving old fan on her ceiling.

 

“We own a billion dollar company, Lex,” she responded. "We helped make global warming happen.”

 

She heard the sound of a drink being poured on the other end of the line.

 

“See?” He replied. “Luthor’s always knew to invest in the future. But seriously, how are things going there? All the bumpkins still driving you around the bend. Did you hear any more from that Keira girl?”

 

Lena felt like crying.

 

“It’s Kara actually…” she muttered out. “And yes, we did meet today.”

 

“She still hot?”

 

Lena groaned loud enough for her brother to hear and cackle.

 

“Jesus Christ, Lex…. Firstly, she’s of little consequence to the grand scheme of this sale and secondly, I never said she was hot.”

 

He snorted.

 

“I could hear it in your voice when you called to complain about her the first time…. and the second time. You’ve also managed to bring her up every single time we’ve talked since, so that gave me a clue.”

 

She sighed at his words.

 

“Lex-“

 

Her brother cut her off.

 

“What? All I’m saying is you keep having encounters with this farmer and you won’t shut up about it. Maybe the universe is telling you something. Maybe she’s the ‘one’.”

 

That made Lena laugh dryly.

 

“The ‘one’? Jesus Christ, are you smoking pot again?”

 

His ice cubes clinked as he took a sip of his drink.

 

“You and I both know I only do that on weekends… And I stand by my words. She’ll be the one to get you out of the funk you’ve been in since the divorce.”

 

“I’m not in a funk, Lex,” she muttered out.

 

“No,” the man replied in a far more serious voice. “You’ve just been a fucking bitch for the last few months. You fired four people in your department in the past week and you’re not even here.”

 

“They were incompetent,” she snapped out. “Even from halfway across the country I could tell that.”

 

“I’m just saying,” he breathed out. “You need to get laid and this girl seems like she fits the bill.”

 

Lena let out a short bark of laughter.

 

“Why? Because she’s female? You think my type encompasses the entire female population then?”

 

Lex tutted.

 

“Well from what you’ve told me I’m picturing a tall, blonde farmer with riveting blue eyes and muscles for days.”

 

And at that, Lena resolved never to tell her brother about the cow incident of how Kara had saved her today.

 

“What… that… I never told you what she looked like!” She yelled out.

 

Her brother let out another cackle.

 

“Right, you’ve caught me. I googled her. Found a photo online from some rodeo thing she won a medal for when she was sixteen.”

 

“Why are you googling people?” Lena demanded. “I told you to stop googling people!”

 

“I’m just saying,” the man responded. “She looks the complete opposite to Veronica and at this point that can only be a good thing. Plus there’s all that arguing… clearly, there’s some unresolved tension between the two of you that could be sorted out in easily with three days and a locked bedroom.”

 

Lena felt a headache coming on.

 

“Lex, I swear to God if you don’t shut up-“

 

“You’ll what? Stab me with a shoe heel again?” He asked. “Actually, don’t do that… I still have the scar from the last time…”

 

Lena frowned at the ceiling.

 

“It was well deserved last time, and it’d be well deserved this time as well.”

 

There was a short pause before Lex let out a breath and spoke in a quiet voice.

 

“You know I love you, right Lena?” He asked.

 

The words mad the woman relax into her sheets.

 

“I love you too big brother.”

 

“I just get worried about you,” he continued. "I just want you to be happy.”

 

She rolled her eyes, even though she was touched by his words.

 

“What about you, Lex?” She asked. “Mr Eternal Bachelor.”

 

“The difference is that I’m happy that way, unlike you. As much as you like to pretend you’re a cynical shit, you’re actually a slut for romance. I peg it as abandonment issues.”

 

“Thank you pop psychology,” she said dryly.

 

Lex laughed.

 

“Oh, I miss you, sis. Can you hurry up already and get back? National City is boring without you.”

 

“First you want me out of the city, now you want me in it. Make up your mind,” she drawled.

 

“What can I say?” He said easily. “I’m crazy like that.”

 

The brunette let out a happy breath, glad that no matter how crazy her life got her brother always stayed the same. Steady, loving and larger than life. 

 

She was so thankful for that.

 

“Don’t worry, Lex,” Lena said quietly. “I know how important this deal is to you. I’ll get it done and be back before you know it.”

 

“Don’t forget the hookup!” He yelled out.

 

Lena’s hand involuntarily itched to the bandaid on her forehead, before she scowled deeply and frowned at the phone.  


 

“Goodbye, Lex!” She had shouted down the line before hanging up on her laughing brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed! Let me know what you think, I love to hear your thoughts and feedback :)


	5. Restrain the Redneck Commie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI guys :D Hope we're all feeling fabulously, and if not I feel for ya. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I certainly enjoyed writing it. I get to spend the whole day writing tomorrow which makes me very happy. Fingers crossed I'll pump out a few chapters for all my fics!
> 
> Songs for this chapter;
> 
> Shallow - Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper
> 
> Elijah - Matthew and The Atlas
> 
> Blowing' In The Wind - Bob Dylan

The gavel pounded down hard and while the judge shuffled his papers leaving Kara standing alone and angry while Maxwell Lord junior and senior chuckled smugly while shaking hands with their lawyer.

 

The whole thing had been slanted against her to start with, ever since her fist had connected with Max’s nose with a crunch to be exact. Still, it was daunting to see the wheels of justice to turn so obviously against her favour. 

 

Still she supposed she had got off lightly, considering her previous record. Sealed or not her behaviour as a teen was bound to be brought up in the slightly larger town of Kandor where the local court sat. An hour east of Argo, it was considered the most metropolitan city in the county. While Argo had it’s own elementary, all of the teenagers had to attend Kandor High in pursuit of a higher education. 

 

Calling Kandor a city was probably overstating things. Five years ago when the chain coffee shop had opened half the town had signed a petition in protest. Kara was somewhat notorious in her formative years, at least as notorious as you could be in Kandor. The same judge that presided over her case when she was fifteen had stared down at her beadily this time.

 

Still, a restraining order and a fine was still a light sentence as fair a sentence as she was bound to get when the prosecutor was already in the Lord’s pockets. It had helped that Maggie’s testimony had been kinder to the blonde than she had anticipated. She hadn’t missed the stink eye Max had given the Sheriff when she had insisted that Kara hadn’t been the one to provoke the fight. The farmer was sure Maggie was bound to get her ear chewed off about it later and the ‘payments’ she was receiving were bound to take a hit. Kara didn’t delude herself into thinking that the dimpled woman had testified on her behalf out of sentimentality.

 

More likely because Alex and Maggie had been in a fight for a month since the incident and had barely spoken. Easier said than done in a small town like Argo. 

 

Kara fled the courtroom as fast as she could, not wishing to be harangued by the Lord’s in any way shape or form. It was an easy walk into the blinding sunlight and the blonde let out a relieved huff when she spotted Alex’s parked in front of the building and waiting to pick her up. 

 

She entered quietly, the redhead spotting her moody face and wisely choose not to speak and pulled away from the curb quickly. It was only once they had made their way back onto the highway heading to Argo that Alex rummaged in the side pocket of her door and pulled out a packet worn cigarettes and a lighter, before holding them out to Kara.

 

The blonde hesitated, before rolling down a window and plucking one out and lighting up. 

 

“I take that it didn’t go well,” Alex asked with a grimace, watching out of the corner of her eyes as Kara let out a puff of smoke. “You haven’t had a cigarette in years.”

 

The blonde grunted, before taking another long drag and flicking the cigarette into the car ashtray, noticing with a raised eyebrow that it was already half full of butts.

 

“They’re bad for you, remember?” She replied finally, before side eyeing Alex. "The real question is, why do you have a packet in your car.”

 

The redhead’s grip on her rattling steering wheel tightened but didn’t respond. Kara decided not the throw stones and instead turned to look out the window and listen to the roar of the hot wind as they barrelled down the gravel road. Things in Kandor were just as bad as Argo, the draught had hit just as hard but it had the advantage on it’s smaller neighbour town of having a series of well-placed dams that had managed to get the community by.

 

At least, so far.

 

But you wouldn’t know it, looking at the barren fields that had once been filled with corn and cattle. Everything was dead or dying these days. 

 

Kara’s brooding thoughts were broken when Alex spoke in a quiet voice.

 

“We all get stressed.”

 

The blonde hummed, easily pinpointed the origin of the redhead’s melancholic mood for the past few weeks. All centred around a short sheriff Alex had zero experience and knowledge in how to approach. All her life, Alex had trouble making meaningful romantic connections. Mostly because she had stuck her head completely in the sand when it came to her obvious and singular attraction to women. Therefore, when Alex and Maggie had finally gotten together after months of dancing around the subject Kara had vowed to take a back foot on the whole thing and let her best friend figure out the whole relationship thing by herself. Sure, it had reminded Kara of the one time when she was three and her mother took her and Clark to see the baby giraffes at the zoo five hours away. All legs and no coordination.

 

But after a while, Alex had worked out her own rhythm with Maggie. 

 

Except when it came to the big ticket issues of course, particularly when it came to Kara’s continued disregard for the powers that be in Argo.

 

But what good was it in being someone’s best friend if you didn’t intervene in their love life on occasion?

 

The blonde farmer rolled her head, watching her friend’s face strained with pain. 

 

“She was in court today, you know,” she said simply.

 

Kara watched as Alex’s face transformed with several different emotions. 

 

Pain, longing, anger….

 

It settled on aloof, but even in the fading orange light, Kara could see regret simmering.

 

“Of course she was,” Alex said with a snort. “The Lord’s whistled and she came running.”

 

Kara resisted the urge to groan.

 

Alex was an amazing person and she’d done more than anyone else in the blonde’s life to support her. No matter what, whether it was a skinned knee when she was three or the loss of her family at when she was still a teenager Alex had been there. But she also had an unfortunate tendency to try and mother Kara, trying to protect her from all the world’s harm. As much as it Kara took issue with Maggie’s relationship with the trifecta power families in Argo, she knew it wasn’t personal when the officer assisted them. Whereas Alex viewed the situation through a different lens. As much as she loved Maggie, she still had the damning overriding tendency to rush to the blonde farmer's defence.

 

Even when Kara didn’t want her to. 

 

“You really need to cut her a break,” the blue-eyed farmer said gruffly, butting out the cigarette.

 

“She spoke in my defence, well as much as she could.”

 

The redhead absorbed her words stoically, but her vulnerable tone betrayed her feelings.

 

“She did?”

 

Kara’s already frayed mood was becoming thinner with every passing minute. She resisted the urge to thump her friend in the shoulder.

 

“Of course, you idiot!” She yelled out in exasperation. “When are you going to get it through your thick head that Maggie is head over heels for you? There’s no way that girl wouldn’t back away from all this mess if you were pissed at her. I’m pretty sure she’d donate her heart if you bloody needed it.”

 

Alex’s face collapsed with vulnerability, but Kara couldn’t find the energy to feel empathy or even encourage the redhead to come to the correct conclusion gently.

 

“She adores you, dummy,” the blonde huffed. “Just say you’re sorry.”

 

The redhead shook her head and protested.

 

“She arrested you!”

 

The blonde woman rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth. Arguing against herself was never her forte, but she was willing to sacrifice her own pride for the greater good today.

 

“She’s the Sheriff and I punched someone right in front of her,” Kara bluntly replied. “What did you expect her to do? For God sakes, you know the only reason that she started working for the rich shits around here was because you defaulted on your payment six months ago.”

 

Alex’s mouth dropped in shock and blanched.

 

“And don’t try to deny it,” Kara continued, interrupting before the redhead could reply. “Eliza told me.”

 

The other woman turned the wheel sharply onto another road and let out a growl.

 

“She shouldn’t have.”

 

Kara sighed, her own mind flashing with the overdue notices stuffed in a shoebox in her messy home office. 

 

“Don’t be mad at your mom,” Kara breathed out. “She hides her stress well, but it still gets to her. Besides… we’re all in the same boat when it comes to the bank.”

 

Alex huffed, but her thoughts were still troubled.

 

“I didn’t ask her to help me.”.

 

“I know,” the blonde said gently. “You’ve got too much pride for that, but the fact remains that she did.”

 

They drove silently after that and Kara’s eyes began to flutter with exhaustion from the long day spent waiting in court for her case to be called. Something about watching the fading sunlight sparkle with an auburn glow through the dust and bathe the land lulled the blonde gently to sleep. 

 

A fair chunk of time must have passed, because when Kara jolted awake after they hit a large pothole Alex had switched her lights on and stars had begun to splatter the sky. Kara figured they must be close to home now. The redhead noticed her stirring and gave her a few seconds to get her bearing before speaking the thought that she had probably been stewing on for the past hour.

 

“She doesn’t get it, Kara. What it means to be… us. How we feel about our land and how a _place_ matters.”

 

The blonde sniffed, her own words being used against her made her feel awkward. But unlike Lena, Maggie really couldn’t be thrown in the category of a heartless city person.

 

“Of course she does,” the blonde replied. “You’re the one who told me she never meant to end up here, but she stayed for you. The fact that she would risk everything, her job, her ethics and her heart to help you says it all,” Kara said grumpily in her post-nap voice.

 

Alex’s lower lip began to quiver and the blonde felt a rush of guilt. 

 

“She’s going to leave me and I wouldn’t blame her,” the redhead said through unshed tears. “God, she deserves someone so much better than me.”

 

Kara placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

 

“What can I bring to the table?” Alex continued bitterly. “A pile of debt, a farm that I’m going to lose and no other qualifications. I have nothing to give her and I can’t even acknowledge our relationship. It shouldn’t be this way. Maggie is too important to be hidden away like a dirty little secret.”

 

Kara struggled with how to respond before giving her friend a wry smile.

 

“Take it from your perpetually single best friend who’s last ‘serious’ relationship ended after three weeks, you’ve got some serious self-esteem problems. You’re totally thick if you think that you don’t have anything to bring to the table in your relationship with Maggie. Alex, you’re the best person I know. You’re kind, fierce, loyal and you’ve got the biggest brain around. How many people do you know get accepted into three different Ivy leagues and full rides for each of them?”

 

It was true, Alex had always been extraordinarily gifted academically. When they were little every time the redhead had come home with shining gold star on a test or essay her father would always scoop her into the biggest hug and proudly display it on the fridge. Jeremiah would then muss his daughter’s hair and reassure her that one day she was going to do everything he had been denied in life due to his families financial circumstances.

 

Another shattered dream.

 

“Easy to brag about the roads not taken…” The redhead replied.

 

“It wasn’t your fault that your Dad got sick, Alex,” Kara said gently. “And it doesn’t change the fact that you’re amazingly loyal.”

 

Loyalty when the shit really hit the fan, unlike some people…

 

The redhead took a deep a shuddering breath, before giving Kara a watery smile.

 

“Maybe you should tell yourself that. God knows you need to more than me. At least I’ve met someone. You’re worth a great relationship too.”

 

The blonde farmer scoffed at her neighbour's words.

 

“Options are a bit limited round Argo… but I do meet people,” she proclaimed.

 

Alex rolled her eyes.

 

“I’m not talking about one night stands with Cat’s hired hands, Kara. I’m talking about a legitimate relationship. What happened to that nice guy you met at the Rodeo last year in Kandor.”

 

The blonde snorted.

 

“You mean the guy who was all ‘lovey-dovey’ until I beat his time Bull Riding?”

 

And then proceeded to call her a slut, Kara appreciating the irony at least giving the events name she’d beaten him in.

 

Alex tsked.

 

“So disappointing that some men just can’t handle a strong woman,” she said with a mock sigh.

 

Kara arched an eyebrow at her friend.

 

“As you would know, formerly repressed lesbian and all.”

 

The other woman winced at her words.

 

“I told you to stop calling me that,” she hissed.

 

Kara made a grand show of looking around the car for the people her friend was evidently afraid of overhearing them.

 

“Well it’s not my fault you ‘don’t like labels’,” she said with exasperation.

 

The redhead narrowed her eyes and gave her a beady look, making Kara regret her words.

 

“What about-“ She tried to say, only to be interrupted by the blonde quickly.

 

“Stop it. Whoever you’re going to pick, is bound to be shit. It doesn’t help that we’ve all know each other since we were born.”

 

Alex smiled smugly for a minute, obviously feeling incredibly proud of herself for bagging a partner that didn’t risk being a distant cousin.

 

“So what happened in court then,” she finally asked.

 

Kara groaned but figured she might as well tell Alex.

 

“Restraining order… and a fine.”

 

Alex winced.

 

“How much?”

  
The farmer scowled and crossed her arms.

 

“More than I’ve got,” she grumbled out. “I’m going to have to commute to Kandor at this rate just for work. Cat said she knows some people who need help mustering.”

 

The redhead shook her head.

 

“You need more than a few shifts on a ranch, Kara,” she nagged, making the other woman’s scowl deepen.

 

“Don’t lecture me on money troubles, Alex.”

 

The redhead bit her tongue.

 

“I just need a little more time,” Kara mumbled out. “I can get the final fixtures from Jonn tomorrow and then the cottage will be done. It’s all I need.”

 

Alex gave her a pitying look that inadvertently made Kara feel even more shattered than before.

 

“Sure, Kara.”

 

The farmer let out a breath, glad that for once Alex decided not to push the issue and reiterate her lack of faith in the blonde’s cottage plan.

 

“Talk to Maggie, Alex,” Kara said quietly instead. “She’s worth it.”

 

The other woman’s fingers twitched on the steering wheel.

 

“I wouldn’t even know what to say,” she muttered.

 

The blonde gave her a goofy grin.

 

“Invite her to the rodeo!” She stated with a firm nod. “All girls like the rodeo.”

 

The redhead’s eyes widened, most likely at the idea of taking Maggie on a very public date that was sure to get the whole county talking.

 

“It’s not for two months!” She tried to protest.

 

Kara shrugged.

 

“Something to plan towards then,” she said primly in response.

 

Alex hummed in response, but Kara took that as a positive sign that she wasn’t dismissing the idea outright.

 

“You entering this year?” She asked.

 

The blonde’s mood dipped into depressing territories.

 

“I haven’t trained,” she muttered out. “I’ve been busy.”

 

The redhead gave her a gentle smile.  


 

“There’s still time.”

 

Kara didn’t want to disappoint her friend, but given her current situation, she wouldn’t even have the money for the entrance fee.

 

“Maybe…”

 

“It’s a ten thousand cash prize this year,” Alex dropped casually.

 

The other woman’s eyes widened and she gave her friend a disbelieving look.

 

“What?”

 

Alex let out a laugh.

 

“I know, tell me about it. If I was any good, I’d enter. They’ve got a big sponsor this year.”

 

The blonde tilted her head.  


 

“Who?”

 

The redhead arched an eyebrow.

 

“Three guesses.”

 

Kara’s mind scrambled, before settling on the obvious name and gritting her teeth in frustration.

 

“God… why did it have to be Luther Corp? They’re really going for all angles to get their claws in.”

 

Kara smarted at the idea of taking prize money from Lena Luthor, even if it would help save her farm. 

 

“Don’t you mean ‘her’ claws?” Alex questioned with a smirk “Besides, you were the one hooking up with her in Cat’s kitchen.”

 

The blonde blushed, the memory of the weird almost kiss between her and the Luthor woman flashing in her mind.

 

“I didn’t hook up with her!” Kara protested vehemently. “She fell and I was patching her up.”

 

Alex laughed.

 

“Yeah, you ‘rescued’ her then took her on a romantic drive to see the sunset. That doesn’t sound suspicious at all.”

 

Kara deflated in her seat.

 

“Oh, shut up… It doesn’t matter anyway, because I’ve never even placed before.”

 

Alex punched her lightly in the shoulder.

 

“But you could!” She cried enthusiastically. “What’s the harm in trying at least? Mom’s entered the baking competition and there’ll be a good show of cattle. You can’t just work yourself into the ground and have no fun.”

 

The blonde brooded in her seat before a genius idea crossed her mind.

 

“How about this, I promise to enter if you talk to Maggie. Tomorrow.”

 

Alex bit her tongue before her shoulders straightened determinedly and she held out one hand to the side for Kara to shake.

 

“Deal.”

 

The blonde took it and smiled.

 

“Bring her some flowers!” She volunteered.

 

Alex shook her head.

 

“She doesn’t like flowers.”

 

Kara rolled her eyes.

 

“Then bring her a bottle of whisky. Drink it and then have makeup sex on the floor. She can bring the handcuffs.”

 

The redhead’s face turned as red as her hair.

 

* * *

 

Kara braced herself before bringing the post driver down with her full weight and strength and the star picket finally moved the last few centimetres it needed to sit properly in the harder than rock ground. The blonde farmer let out a groan of relief before allowing the driver to drop on the ground with a hard thud and stretching out her aching muscles. 

 

The sun had been beating down on her for the past few hours and she was sure, even though she had slathered herself with sunscreen, that her bare shoulders would be burnt tomorrow. A trickle of sweat ran down her back and she pulled her sticky tank top away from her body.

 

There was a pleasant satisfaction in completing a physically demanding job. Looking back across the paddock and the long line of posts stretching for hundreds of metres in a near perfect line made her smile tiredly. It had been a long week since her court date and Kara had decided to take her frustration out by finally repairing a downed fence. Between cutting the old and rusted wire loose and collecting the old wooden posts, Kara’s arms were covered in new cuts and splinters. 

 

Farming’s a blood sport, her uncle used to say. 

 

Everything deteriorated but for five blessed minutes, Kara allowed her herself to reveal in a partially finished job well done.

 

Of course, the moment had to be broken by the sound of her busted old mobile phone managing to pick up a signal and ring with an incoming call, cutting off the music she had playing during her work.

 

The blonde picked it up, frowning as she noticed the caller ID and hesitated before accepting the call.

 

“What do you want?” She barked out.

 

The man on the other end of the line let out a disappointed breath, but Kara couldn’t find it in her to care about his feelings.

 

“Hello, Kara,” Clark replied.

 

The blonde kicked a loose stone on the ground making it fly across the dirt.

 

“Hi. What do you want?”

 

The man let out another heavy breath and Kara rested the temptation to through her phone in the same direction as the stone she’d kicked.

 

“Can’t I just call to check in?”

 

The blonde farmer rolled her eyes.

 

“You never call to check in. You only call to lecture, brag or be condescending. Sometimes all three at the same time. I’ll ask again, what do you want.”

 

“Holding onto your anger is only hurting you, Kara,” the man said gently.

 

The blonde gritted her teeth, imagining her cousin sitting on a comfy couch in air conditioning and sipping an overpriced coffee, while she was under the blazing sun and turning as red as a tomato.It was hard to take advice from a man about her anger when he was the sole cause of it. As if Kara was responsible for the destroyed relationship between them.

 

“How’s Lois?” She asked instead, trying to steer the conversation into the only safe harbour they had between them.

 

Unlike Clark, Kara actually liked his longtime girlfriend that he had run to Metropolis to live in her shadow.

 

The blonde had no idea how Lois put up with him.

 

“She’s good,” Clark replied happily, clearly glad to be on a happier note. “Everything at the Planet’s going well… she’s up for a Pulitzer.”

 

The blonde couldn’t help but smile at that.

 

“Oh, wow. That’s a big deal.”

 

“I’m so proud of her, Kara.”

 

She could hear in his voice that it was true. If there was one redeeming quality about her older cousin, it was the fact that he had never begrudged Lois of her greater success. Though it was the only legitimate response considering the dark-haired woman had gotten him his job.

 

“That’s awesome, Clark. Wish her luck from me,” Kara replied, ready to hang up the phone.

 

He cousin stopped her quickly.

 

“Well, I was actually wondering if you might be coming up to the city soon?” he questioned in an uplifting tone that immediately made the blonde suspicious.

 

“You’ve never invited me up before…. Lois push you into it?” She asked dryly.

 

Clark took another deep breath.

 

“We’re getting married, Kara.”

 

The blonde stopped herself from groaning, bemoaning Lois’ terrible taste in men.

 

“About time, I suppose,” she said instead stiffly. “You’ve been together forever. Congratulations.”

 

Clark paused, before continuing.

 

“The thing is… I was hoping you would be able to come to the wedding.”

 

Kara frowned down at the ground before her eyes darted in the direction of the fairway dilapidated house.

 

“What about my dad?” She asked gruffly.

 

Her cousin sighed again and the farmer felt a sudden flash of rage.

 

“Kara… please don’t.”

 

The farmer’s grip tightened so much, the old phone case cracked.

 

“Look… Clark-“

 

He interrupted her this time.

 

“The thing is Kara, I’ve called James and asked him to be my best man. He said yes and Lucy’s going to be Maid of Honour. It would really mean a lot to Lois and I if you were a part of the wedding party. We’re having it at the Metropolis Observatory, so we can be under all the stars.”

 

He said it so hopefully as if that was supposed to mean something to her. As if anything about her newer and apparently better life in the city meant anything to her. She wasn’t going to stand for it. Being asked only because Lois had demanded he does so with the intent of repairing family wounds. It didn’t mean anything to Kara. Standing under stars you wouldn’t be able to see properly through all the light pollution. For as long as the Zorel’s had owned their farm, every single one of them had been married on it. Even when the local church had kicked up a fuss way back in the day, that’s what they did. 

 

Kara had stumbled on her own secret place years ago, the very stop she knew that if ever she got married she wanted it to happen. Just as the light fell and scattered through the trees like diamonds. Then, as night fell they’d have the reception under real stars with no smog to separate them from the heavens.

 

Not the inauthentic life Clark had built.

 

“Why?” She bit out.

 

The man spluttered.

 

“I’m sorry?”

 

Kara ground her heel into the dust.

 

“Why would it mean a lot to you? We never talk.”

 

Her cousin sighed again, making the blonde wonder if he had a patent on the action.

 

“That wasn’t my choice, Kara.”

 

She felt like screaming.

 

“Your choice was leaving and never looking back. I just happened to be the ‘back’.”

 

The man spoke in a stuttered voice, but the farmer was far past caring.

 

“Kara, we’re family.”

 

“So?” She snorted out with venom. “That doesn’t mean anything. Just because we’re related by blood, doesn’t mean we have to like each other or have some obligation to one another. Or do only agree with that when it’s convenient for you?”

 

“Kara, please,” he replied, for the first time a hint of anger in his voice. “It would be good for you to come and see the city. Get out from under it all and expand your horizons. There’s a whole world out here for you to see. I just don’t want you to be stuck down there. I don’t want you to go down a bad path. James told me you have a restraining order now.”

 

Kara’s whole body turned white hot with fury.

 

“James told you?” She snarled. “Oh, so that’s the real reason you called. Felt a bit guilty did you? Well, you shouldn’t, Clark. I’m fine. Don’t worry your pretty head about it.”

 

The man snapped at her words.

 

“That isn’t the only reason, Kara. I know things financially are… we all know where it’s heading. Pretty soon you’re going to have to sell out, or the bank will take the place from you. I just want to make sure you get the best deal.”

 

In that moment, Kara wanted to kill him. Physically and rawly choke the life out of his arrogant, condescending, bastard body.

 

“So this is about money?” She said with a cry, the raw emotion pouring out of her. “Want to make sure you get your ‘fair share’ even though you’ve done absolutely nothing to earn it.”

 

“Kara-“

 

Tears began to fall from her eyes and she struggled to keep the pain she had successfully repressed over her cousin leaving for years. The agony at being cut off from one of the few people who would always be by her side.

 

“You don’t deserve anything, Clark. You made that clear when you ran out of here as fast as you possibly could. You think you’re owed this land? Even a bit of it? Because of a biological fluke? This place means everything to me and I’d rather it be burnt to the ground than you receive a single dime.”

 

The man didn’t respond for a beat, but when he did the blonde could have sworn she could hear him crying.

 

“Kara…”

 

He trailed off, but the farmer knew there was nothing more to say.

 

“Have a great wedding, Clark. Don’t expect to pay for it with ‘your portion’ of my home.” 

 

She hung up the phone and let out a visceral roar, falling to her knees. Oscar spotted out from under the truck where he had been basking in the only shade around and licked her face worriedly. Kara let out a weak breath, her strained mind still fumbling at the humour of her dog being more emotionally stable than herself right now.

 

“I really need to stop crying in your fur,” she said to the dog muffledly.

 

He didn’t respond, obviously, but not for the first time Kara wished he could give her a hug.

 

* * *

 

It was later in the day after she had calmed down from her teary outburst that Kara decided to go into town and pick up the wire she would need to complete the cottage. She was trying to focus on the things she could control and was determined that Clark wouldn’t ruin the happiness she felt at completing projects on the farm. 

 

She walked into the general store with a skip in her step, walking up to Jonn who was stacking shelves quickly.

 

“Hey, Jonn. I need-“

 

The big man cut her off with a raised hand and gave her a troubled look.

 

“Kara, you still owe me for last month. I’m sorry, but I can’t give you anything else on credit.”

 

The blonde’s heart plummeted and she trailed after Jonn like a lost puppy as he made his way behind the counter.

 

“Jonn… please…” she finally croaked out. “I need these materials. This is the only option I have left to make some money.”

 

The man let out a deep and sad sigh.

 

“No one’s coming to Argo, Kara,” he rumbled. “Unless they’re from the bank and I doubt you want them to stay on your farm.”

 

The blonde felt like crying again but dug deep for remnants of strength inside her.

 

“So you’re telling me to give up,” she bit out. “Throw in the towel. Could you give up on this place, Jonn? With everything, it means to yourself and your family?”

 

He looked around the store carefully, his eyes filled with history, but in the end, he just nodded.

 

“My wife and daughters would want me to live, Kara. And Alura would want the same for you. There is so much in the world beyond this town and you’ll never get a chance to experience it because you are floundering.” 

 

He placed a gentle hand over hers.

 

“The burden shouldn’t be on you.”

 

Kara yanked her hand away, upset that he had brought up her mother and infuriated at what he was insinuating.

 

“My father is not a burden, Jonn. He’s family. You stick by family. And this isn’t just about him and everyone before it’s… it’s about me too.” 

 

His eyes were disbelieving, but with everything inside her willed him to understand.

 

“Please, I know this will work. If we don’t help each other in times of crisis, then what kind of people are we. The drought’s hitting us all hard, but we’ve been through worse as a community. Together we can do this.”

 

The man watched her, pride shining in his eyes.

 

“Planning your next speech at the next town hall meeting?”

 

She smiled tiredly.

 

“Someone’s got to do it. Otherwise, this entire place will be stamped with the Luther Corp brand.”

 

The broad man nodded thoughtfully and shrugged.

 

“I like her.”

 

Kara blinked.

 

“I’m sorry?”

 

He shrugged once more.

 

“Ms Luthor. I like her.”

 

The blonde farmer’s face pinched at that.

 

“You don’t even know her!” She cried.

 

The man shook her head, gesturing with his hand.

 

“She comes in her every day to get the paper and I make her a sandwich if she’s back at lunch. Thinks the bread at The Bar is soggy.”

 

Kara snorted.

 

“Snob,” she muttered.

 

Jonn gave her a discerning look.

 

“Please, Kara. As much as I enjoy my head on my shoulders, even you can’t deny that Megann can’t cook to save her life.”

 

The blonde’s thoughts flashed to the bristly owner of the bar who fancied herself a chef. It was painfully obvious to everyone in town that Jonn had a crush on her, but was too chicken to do anything about it. As for Megann herself… well, she barely looked up from her work to notice anybody unless they insulted her food.

 

Then they got a pan chucked at them.

 

“I won’t breathe a word,” she said, miming zipping her lips.

 

Jonn nodded in thanks.

 

“City folk like Ms Luthor aren’t that different to us, Kara,” he explained gently. “They’re still just people with their own host of problems with their jobs, family and friends. And she always has something to comment about financial section on Sunday. I think she’s a highly intelligent woman, who also happens to be a bit lonely.”

 

Kara felt a stab of empathy but rolled her eyes.

 

“Yeah, that and she’s a billionaire. Just like you and me. Bet she could afford taps…”

 

Jonn rolled his eyes but gave her a rueful grin.

 

“I think she might just need someone to talk to. Someone kind, smart and empathetic who can teach her a few things she never would have thought about.”

 

Kara frowned at his insinuation. First Cat, now Jonn seemed to want her to hook up with Lena and she failed to understand why.

 

“Jonn-“

 

The man cut her off with another hand raise.

 

“I’ll give you the supplies if you promise to take a break sometime. Alex told me you were going to enter the bull riding in Argo but when I checked yesterday your name still wasn’t on the list.”

 

Truthfully, Kara really couldn’t afford it.

 

“Firstly, Alex should learn to shut up,” she said flatly. “Secondly, the rodeo’s two months away!”

 

The man leaned forward, before pulling out from under the bench a beautifully pressed shirt adorned with beads and tassels, taking Kara’s breath away.

 

“Better get training then,” he replied, handing it over. “Because I forged your signature and paid the entrance fee for you.”

 

Kara’s eyes widened, still shocked by the beautiful gift he had given her already.

 

“Jonn-“ She tried to protest.

 

“Don’t thank me,” he said gruffly. “You and Alex… you’re like daughters to me. We all understand the pain of losing family and you’re right, the only way we got through it was by being there for each other. No matter what.”

 

The man turned before pulling out another package for Kara that clearly contained the taps she needed to finish the cottage. Kara’s eyes flooded with tears as she took them. 

 

“How do you do it, Jonn?” She asked her emotions in a hot jumble. “Handle it every day. How do you move on?”

 

The man’s eyes grew warm before he responded.

 

“I dance with the past. I pray to it. I try to honour my family every day. I hold them close as breath. And gently, so gently… let them go. That’s when I know I’ve come home.”

 

Kara closed her eyes in pain at the beautiful words, trying to understand them and feeling only more sorrow. She wished she could achieve Jonn’s quiet peace and wisdom.

 

“Kara… you’re a hero to everyone around here who really matters,” the man interrupted. “We all know that you’ll fight for us. But don’t lose everything you are doing it.”

 

The blonde swelled the hard lump in her throat.

 

“That’s the thing Jonn if I fail…”

 

The shopkeeper grabbed her shoulder and forced her to look at him in the eyes.

 

“If you fail, you’ll still be standing here. You’re so much more than just a legacy, Kara. Your identity isn’t just based on your farm. You’re not just worth the value of it.”

 

She wanted to believe him.

 

“Thanks, Jonn,” she muttered, turning to walk out the door. “For the taps and the rodeo… thanks.”

 

The door closed behind her and Kara walked towards her truck dejectedly, placing the package and shirt on her passenger seat with care. Her mind was a confusing mess right now and she felt a desperate urge to drink. She swallowed, eyeing The Bar’s crooked sign across the street and made up her mind.

 

She wasn’t too good to eat Megann’s soggy sandwiches.

 

The blonde farmer walked over and in quickly, eyed the interior of the bar with a squint as her eyes struggling to adjust to the light. Winn was standing behind the bar, giving it a wipe down that did little to move the grease and dirt left behind by dusty and drunk farmers.

 

“Hey, Kara. I feel like I haven’t seen you in an age. What’s been happening?” He asked with a smile.

 

The blonde walked forward, leaning against the bar and given the other older patrons a nod in greeting.

 

“Oh, you know. The usual,” she said casually.

 

Winn tilted his head and spoke in a not so quiet whisper.

 

“I heard you have a restraining order now.”

 

The other people in the bar stopped talking at his words, making Kara grit her teeth but Winn remained oblivious.

 

“I swear, Alex’s got a network of messenger pigeons or something,” she muttered out bitterly. “What do you lot do, huh? Write it up in the local paper?”

 

He smiled.

 

“Oh yeah, James does the photography of course!” He said with a laugh, before continuing to speak. “Speaking of… a little birdie told me that a wedding’s coming up.”

 

Now everyone in the bar seemed to hold their breath.

 

“How… Lucy, I’m guessing…. James doesn’t gossip,” Kara spat out her nails digging into the counter’s wood. “Look, I really don’t want to talk about it.”

 

He arched an eyebrow in surprise.

 

“So you’re not going?” He questioned.

 

Kara’s irritation rose to new heights.

 

“I don’t want to talk about it, Winn,” she spat out, begging him to stop talking while the entire gossip chain in Argo seemed to be sitting around her a listening.

 

“Come on, Kara. It’ll be all over the town soon enough. Clark and Lois made it big in the big city, only to be completed by a fairytale romance. What’s not to like about that?”

 

Whispers amongst the other patrons started at his words and Kara had officially had enough.

 

“I don’t want to fucking talk about it!” She shouted out, stunning everyone into silence. 

 

Winn looked at her shocked while Kara glared him down before she turned to the room as a whole.

 

“That goes for the lot of you, sticking your noses were they don’t belong. I don’t gossip about you lot, so I’d certainly appreciate it if you stopped gossiping about me.”

 

She turned to face one old man with a mole on his nose.

 

“Otherwise I’d be more than happy to talk about the STD that you managed to pick up Mr Pritchett.”

 

He blanched and buried himself in his beer.

 

Kara turned to another balding middle-aged man sitting next to the counter.

 

“And the fact that Brett over there only passed high school after his sister ran away with the principal.”

 

Another burly man, Pete Mason tried to placate her.

 

“Easy on, Kara.”

 

She turned to him with wide eyes.

 

“No! I’ve had it with you lot talking shit about me and mine just to shoot the breeze." 

 

Kara looked back at Winn whose face was filed with regret.

 

“I’ve helped ever single one of you out when you need it and it might be nice if for once you returned the god damn favour,” she finished with a cracking voice.

 

“Kara, I’m sorry-“ He tried to say, but the farmer had enough.

 

“Forget it, Winn,” she muttered, picking up her Stenson from the bar and placing it on her head. “I’ll have lunch somewhere else.”

 

She turned to walk out, stumbling when she spotted Lena Luthor of all people staying at her on the staircase with a smirk. It made Kara flush with embarrassment and humiliation and she stormed out of the bar.

 

The fact that Lena Luthor, the woman who was key to destroying her world, had witnessed her so compromised and then had the audacity to smile like the cat who caught the canary was too much to bear. Kara felt like dying.

 

She was nearly at her truck when she heard pouring feet behind her.

 

“Kara, wait!” 

 

Kara slumped, before turning to look at the green-eyed business woman.

 

“Oh great… what do you want Ms Luthor?” She asked bitterly. "Satisfied now that you’ve seen me go an humiliate myself in front of half the town? Found a pressure point you can press to get what you want? A piece of advice, Ms Luthor. You don’t have to look hard to find my pressure points. I’ve got a million of them because I’m the most fucked up human being on the planet.”

 

Kara staggered back and leant against the door of her truck, staring down at the ground but feeling surprisingly relaxed having finally released her emotions.

 

There was a long enough pause, that the blonde looked up again and into Lena’s sympathetic eyes.

 

“I wasn’t going to say that at all, actually,” she said simply.

 

Kara shrugged.

 

“Then what do you want?” She asked.

 

The other woman bit her lip and Kara’s eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the gesture instantly.

 

“I just… I wanted to check on you.”

 

The farmer snorted.

 

“Why?”

 

Lena gave her a wry smile, something that Kara annoying found extremely cute.

 

“You saved my life, remember? I guess I’m just returning the favour. Besides, do you any idea how much I’ve wanted to yell at people like that in my time? When I was fifteen I punched a paparazzo who taken rather risqué photos of myself and another girl. I know it might seem trite coming from someone born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but I get it. People spreading stuff about you is shit no matter who you are.”

 

The words and image of Lena at fifteen punching a journalist made Kara grin. It grew even wider when she imagined the journalist was Clark.

 

“Well, I guess I can at least be thankful that my dirty laundry doesn’t get out for the whole world to see,” the farmer replied in a calmer voice. “Not that the whole world would care about a backwater farmer from the middle of nowhere.”

 

Lena shrugged.

 

“Maybe they should. You’re far more real than the majority of people I meet… People forget, when you in my world what it is to be really human. We all have a tendency to become… detached.”

 

Her eyes grew distant and Kara tilted her head, assessing the woman in front of her in a new light.

 

“Is that what you are, Ms Luthor? Detached?” She asked.

 

Lena gave her a guarded look, evidently searching for something in her face. it took a few seconds, but the brunette sighed and responded.

 

“My brother probably thinks so, and I know for a fact my ex-wife does.”

 

Kara’s mind ran with the possibilities of the other woman’s words.

 

“If I can ask, Ms Luthor… what the hell are you doing here?”

 

Lena gave her a confused look.

 

“My job.”

 

The blonde smiled.

 

“No, I mean… why are you here, doing this job. Running around the country acquiring land and negotiating like a loan shark… It just doesn’t seem to be… Well, when I googled you I read that your initial work and your PhD was science-based. I guess I’m just wondering how someone as smart as you and with your obvious clout in Luther Corp got shunted into the over glorified real estate department.”

 

Lena pondered the question seriously before she responded.

 

“It’s not an interesting tale really. The company was restructuring when I came on full time and there was an open space in acquisitions. At the time I thought it’d be a good way to get some use out of my MBA. I’d only done it to shut my mother up really. Lex was always going to inherit the company and my focus had lain with science. But, I still don’t like it when any of my skills get dull. The first job I ever took was… altruistic. Buying out a slumlord’s properties and repurposing them as part of Luther Corp’s low income housing project.”

 

“Never mind the gentrification that occurred afterwards,” Kara said dryly.

 

Lena gave her a surprised and annoyed look.

 

“Did you look that word up in the dictionary?” She spat.

 

The farmer frowned.

 

“Please, Ms Luthor. No need to get defensive, I know all about Luther Corp’s acquisitions. I googled thoroughly. I’m not an idiot.”

 

Lena opened her mouth, then closed it. She took a few seconds before speaking in a gentler voice.

 

“I… sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. You’re right, of course… that’s exactly what occurred. But at the time I… I really felt like I was doing something good.”

 

Kara was surprised by the vulnerability in the other woman’s voice. It was definitely strange viewing Lena as a human being instead of a corporate tool in a machine.

 

“But I’m guessing it was more than that,” the blonde replied. “After all, you’ve been a part of a lot of dodgy deals since then and I’d assume you knew about it after a while.”

 

Lena shrugged.

 

“I like winning. I learned that I really, really like winning. Sure, you can win in science and you still get the same rush of achievement with a breakthrough but… It’s not the same as seeing it on a person’s face when they’ve lost.”

 

Kara frowned.

 

“Except we’re not just pieces on a chessboard,” she replied sharply. “Ms Luthor, this is our livelihoods you’re trading away.”

 

The other woman gave her a cynical look.

 

“We live in a capitalist society, Kara.”

 

The blonde laughed dryly.

 

“You say that like it’s a good thing. Please don’t tell me that you really think it’s morally right to justify capitalism when it has supported a system of oppression ever since it’s conception. Sure, societal problems have always existed but patriarchal tendencies, racism, discrimination and colonialism are the cornerstones upon which capitalism sits. All while the one per cent hoard the world’s wealth and resources while everyone else is crushed underneath and appeased with doctrine telling us that if we just work harder, we can get there too.”

 

Lena tilted her head, clearly surprised and impressed by Kara’s extreme opinion on capitalism.

 

“Wow, putting your college education to good use.”

 

Kara laughed without humour.

 

“Nope. Didn’t even graduate high school, Ms Luthor. Doesn’t mean I don’t read and use my eyes.”

 

Lena laughed, and despite the subject matter, Kara felt her chest glow.

 

“It’s been a long time since I’ve engaged with a socialist.”

 

The blonde shook her head at the term.

 

“I believe in people, Ms Luthor. You believe in money. That’s the difference between us, I think.”

 

The brunette snorted.

 

“That’s naive. In my experience, everyone is motivated by money.”

 

“Really?” Kara asked. “Maybe in your circles… In my opinion, people are motivated by desperation. The desperation that they won’t have enough food on the table for their family at dinner. Even desperation that if you don’t make more money, you don’t buy more cars… if you don’t have more of an input on how history will play out… that you won’t matter any more than anyone else.”

 

The green-eyed woman waved her hand.

 

“I’m not a defender of the rich, Kara. But my job isn’t as simple as right or wrong. Luther Corp employs thousands of people from every walk of life in from path you could think of. I have a moral obligation to them too, don’t I? I’m not deluding myself about what I’m doing here, but I truly believe that the good outweighs the bad.”

 

The blonde refused to yield her point.

 

“Trading lives then? And, forgive me, but you can’t really believe that.”

 

Lena eyed her with amusement.

 

“You think you know my own motivations better than me, Kara?”

 

The farmer gave her a heavy look, trying to read into every line a wrinkle on the other woman’s body. Trying to understand.

 

“I think,” she said slowly. “That once upon a time you were a woman who wrote her PhD on Environmental Science. You wanted to change the world for the better and not just for share price bump. I don’t doubt that you enjoy what you do, but there’s got to be a part of you that sees what you’re doing here is just plain wrong.”

 

Lena seemed surprised at Kara’s extensive knowledge into her academic record but shook her head in response.

 

“Are you trying the redeem my conscious, Kara? Save my soul?” She asked bitterly.

 

The blonde felt a rush of… something. She stepped forward into the brunette’s space, making Lena blink at her with shock. Kara reached out and gently played with a loose end of Lena’s hair.

 

“No,” she whispered. “Just trying to remind you’re as human as me, Lena.”

 

The other woman didn’t speak, but her breath caught making Kara blink and step back. The blonde blushed slightly, before hurrying to jump back in her truck and slam the door.

 

“I’m far too cynical to believe that,” Lena finally responded, stopping Kara from driving off.

 

The blonde turned to look at her through the window and suddenly came to a decision she didn’t even realise she had been pondering.

 

“Are you free tomorrow?” She asked.

 

Lena frowned.

 

“Why?”

 

The farmer smiled.

 

“I want to take you somewhere.”

 

“Should I be worried?”

 

Kara laughed.

 

“No. I just figured you’ve spent so much time running around inspecting properties and evaluating them. Except for that time on the cliff, I wonder if you’ve ever actually seen, really seen, the place you’re trying to buy.”

 

The brunette looked interested, but also wary.

 

“Thank you, but I don’t think-“

 

Kara cut her off, giving her a lopsided grin.

 

“Come on, Lena. What’s the worst that could happen?” She asked.

 

The businesswoman stared at her for a full minute, before giving her a small nod of assent.

 

“Fine.”

 

Kara’s grin widened.  


 

“Great,” she replied, staring the truck with a roar. “Meet me at my place at five. I know you know where it is.”

 

The brunette flushed.

 

“In the afternoon?”

 

The blonde grinned evilly, waggling her eyebrows.

 

“Don’t be daft, Lena. This is the heartland and we start early.”

 

She shifted gears and slammed on the accelerator, roaring away.

 

“Five in the… FIVE IN THE MORNING?” She heard Lena shout behind her.

 

Kara laughed before yelling out the window.

 

“I’LL MAKE COFFEE!”

 

She continued to giggle well down the road, and for the first time in a long while she couldn’t help but feel truly happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DID WE LIKEY? TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS :D I LOVE DEM COMMENTS!!!


	6. Flattened Earth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hell friends :D How are we doing this day? 
> 
> To you Americans reading, I guess you're thanking people or something... so that's good. 
> 
> Try not to kill any relatives!!!
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter.
> 
> Songs for this chapter;
> 
> Timing Is Everything - Garrett Hedlund 
> 
> Hurt - Johnny Cash
> 
> That Wasn't Me - Brandie Carlile

It was the incessant buzzing of Lena’s phone that woke her up first. 

 

The brunette let out a groan, her crusty eyelid cracking open as the whole threadbare mattress vibrated beneath her. She scrambled under the pillow, struggling to see in the darkened room the find it and frowned when she saw the caller ID.

 

Her brother’s picture stared down at her, taken on the Barbados holiday her had dragged her on after her divorce came through. Lex’s usually shaven head was bright red from sunburn and he grinned at the camera with a thumbs up and a margarita. 

 

She had been tempted to share the photo on the company website, but Lex had blackmailed her with his own cache of pictures of the brunette breaking into a bar to mix her own drinks at three in the morning he had taken on the same holiday.

 

But seeing his shit-eating grin at four in the morning made her want to kill him even more. 

 

Reluctantly, she accepted the call resigned that if she didn’t, he would just ring again. 

 

“What. The. Actual. Fuck. Lex,” she growled out. 

 

Her brother laughed deeply, and the brunette could hear the sound of the TV playing and echo down the line.

 

“I just wanted to make sure my little sis got to her date on time,” he teased. “You seem so excited for it last night.”

 

Lena groaned deeply, shifting so she could sit up and throw the scratchy sheets off her.

 

“Firstly, I wasn’t excited,” she replied, standing to her feet and stretching her back from her bad night’s sleep. “I was pissed that I had to get up at this ridiculous hour. Secondly, isn’t a date, I’m treating it as an inspection.” 

 

The brunette eyed the clothes she had laid out the night before.

 

“Thirdly, the only reason you’re up at this time is that you stayed awake the whole night.”

 

The sound of bacon frying followed her response as Lex chuckled.

 

“You caught me, but I wasn’t working. The new Rockstar game dropped and it is incredible,” he said excitedly.

 

“God, what is it? GTA 75 or something,” she said with a sniff, entirely unimpressed at this time of the morning with Lex’s childish fanboying.

 

Her brother gasped in horror at her words.

 

“No, you uncultured swine. It’s Red Dead Redemption 2!”

 

Lena frowned.

 

“That’s the one with the guns, right?” She questioned.

 

Her older bother tutted at her.

 

“You know exactly what it is sis,” he crowed. “An epic storyline, cinematic marvel with a killer soundtrack. Set out on the lone prairie where cowboys and gunslingers reign. I’m totally getting why you’re enjoying your life out in the middle nowhere now. Tell me, does this Kara have a horse? Does she ride up to you with her cowboy hat tipped and ask if you ‘need any assistance’? Does she have long whimsical conversations about ‘the old west’?”

 

Lena’s mind flashed with an image of Kara pushing her out of the way of a rampaging cow, before issuing her an adorable half smile. 

 

The brunette flushed, before groaning.

 

“Lex, it’s far too early for all your teasing and you sound hyper from all the fruit loops you probably ate last night. I can’t believe you stayed up all night when you have that meeting with Wayne this morning,” she chastised.

 

“Can’t I just become submerged with country culture, like you?” He whined. “You’ve been there for so long, I’m forgetting what you look like. Forgive me for wanting to say connected to my one and only sister.”

 

He did sound like he missed her, but Lena could detect an undercurrent of something else in his voice.

 

“Come on Lex, you can’t fool me,” she said blandly. “What’s really going on?”

 

He huffed.

 

“Fine. Mom called last night.”

 

Lena blinked in surprise before a swell of bitter indifference filled her chest.

 

“What did the old bag want?” She asked with a snort. “Try to set you up with the daughter of someone important? Or was it to lecture you on how you’re running the company into the ground.”

 

Lex hummed distractedly.

 

“All of the above… and she asked about you.”

 

Now that shocked her.

 

“I thought she said I was dead to her? What happened to make her think a resurrection was in order?”

 

She could hear him hesitate before he responded.

 

“She heard about divorce.”

 

The brunette scowled down at the floor.

 

“Who hasn’t? It was on every rag magazine from here to Sydney.”

 

“She wants to talk to you. Said she wanted to bury the hatchet.” 

 

Lena snorted.

 

“And you bought that?” She asked disdainfully.

 

He paused again.

 

“Well….”

 

Lena resisted the desire to drive back to National City and punch her brother in the face.

 

“Jesus, Lex… what did you do?”

 

He took a deep breath, before speaking quickly.

 

“I told her she could come to National City. Stay for a bit.”

 

Lena almost dropped the phone.

 

“You… you did what?” She hissed out. “Are you completely insane? Why would you let that horrible, toxic, downright evil snake back into our lives? You know what, why would you invite her back into my life? National City was mine. It’s the only place that wasn’t littered with her sycophants. Where I didn’t have to think about her every day. Why would you do this to me?”

 

Lex replied in a biting tone, one he rarely used with Lena.

 

“Firstly, Lena, I’m entitled to do whatever the hell I want. You’re not my keeper and you need to stop acting like I’m a child you need to monitor and contain in case I do something stupid!” He snapped out.

 

Lena’s face grew hot.

 

“What like the time you disappeared to Vegas and I had to surprise those photographs the paparazzi took?” She questioned shrilly. “Or the time you crashed your Ferrari into the Memorial Day fountain? Or maybe the time you solicited that prostitute, who just happened to be an undercover cop? Every single time it’s been me dealing with your fuck ups and stopping them to make sure they don’t damage the image of our company.”

 

She heard her brother throw and break something.

 

“ _My_ company, Lena. _Mine_ , not _yours_.”

 

Lena’s heart hardened at the reminder and the cruel words. He knew how much it had hurt her to be left next to nothing by her father, all because of an archaic, misogynistic notion that the first son inherits over the daughter.

 

“Low blow, Lex,” she answered in a deadly voice. “Don’t even try to insinuate that Luther Corp means more to you than me, because we both know that isn’t true. You’re a damn good CEO, Lex. But you’re a shit adult. The amount of crap you’ve put me through over the years…”

 

He seemed to realise the error he made.

 

“Look, Lena… I would never-“

 

The brunette cut him off.

 

“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me,” she whispered.

 

“She’s dying, Lena,” he said suddenly. “Mom’s got stage four liver cancer.”

 

The brunette took a deep breath, absorbing the news before disregarding it.

 

“I’m shocked she didn’t buy herself a new one.”

 

The next time he spoke, Lex’s voice was filled with emotion.

 

“This isn’t funny, Lena. Can you stop being a bitch for five minutes? I know your life has been shit ever since Veronica pulled a fast one, but I’d sure as hell appreciate it if you held back the snark for my sake. I’ve been here for you too, you know. I was there the night she left and you were crying on the floor. I was there when you drunk your weight in vodka and held your hair back. And I’ll always be there for you. I had your back with Mom and I always will. But the fact is, she’d fucking dying and you’re never actually here. She wants to make amends, and I don’t know if I believe her or not but… she’s my mom, Lee.”

 

He never called her by her pet name, not since they were children and Lena found her resolve softening.

 

“Ok. Just, don’t expect me to deal with her,” she replied briskly. “Do whatever you want. It’s _your_ money that’s been buying her off all these years anyway.”

 

“Lena-“

 

She couldn’t take it anymore.  


 

“I’ve got to go, Lex. I’m late.”

 

He let out a heavy breath.

 

“I love you, Lee,” he whispered out. “I hope you have a good day with your cowgirl.”

 

Lena’s jaw tightened.

 

“Thanks,” she said before hanging up.

 

* * *

 

After Lena had composed herself, rushing to get ready but still exhausted she made her way down the stairs and out the door, waving at the sleepy looking Winn as she passed.

 

The drive in the dark in the direction of Kara’s farm was quiet and Lena’s thoughts drifted as she watched the edges of light were just starting to peek over the edge of the horizon, fingers of purple light chasing away the stars as the sun rose. Lena took a moment to appreciate the novelty of it, trying to recall the last time she had ever actually seen a sunrise but coming up short. 

 

It took nearly half an hour, Lena wondering if the directions she had researched were correct when she spotted the crooked sign. An old wooden thing that had been painted white, but was peeling now from the many years it had seen. In the darkness, Lena could just faintly make out the words.

 

SOLITUDE RANCH - The Zorel Family

 

Lena wasn’t stupid. She knew from the first night in Argo, when Kara had crashed the town hall meeting fire in her eyes that she was the one to watch out for in the area. The power trio of families had been decided unhelpful when it came to information on the blonde farmer, only getting annoyed at the mention of the woman and muttering that her father had a drinking problem.

 

The interesting thing was that in her entire time at Argo, the businesswoman had yet to see the man. He appeared to be somewhat of a hermit. Staying at home while his daughter ran around trying to keep the family farm afloat. Nobody, apart from the Lord’s, Daxam’s and Edge’s had a bad word to say about the woman. Everyone was notoriously tight-lipped unless to remind her how wonderful Kara was and how much she did to support her community. 

 

From what she had been able to scrape together from people, Kara and Google, the Zorel family had been one of the first families to ever settle in the area. Generation open generation of farmers handing down the land to their children. The original farm had been triple in size to what it once was today, but as time went on the farmers of America increasingly got the short stick more and more often. The farming crisis during the 1980s had hit Argo hard, the Zorel’s particularly. Half of their land was sold just to keep afloat. After that hit, things seemed to take a slight turn for the better, but in all honesty, nobody ever fully recovered to their previous state. 

 

Industrial agriculture had taken over, rendering small family owned farms moot. A whole segment people who were once the backbone of the country were abandoned in favour of the future. Big cities and technological advancement where the future and America’s rural life was left to fade into oblivion. 

 

Things were already hard, global warming made it harder. Central America was hit with more and more disasters, whether it be tornados or droughts it just never seemed to end. This particular stretch had lasted years already, with no end in sight.

 

Low crop, stock and farming incomes were already a way of life but the Zorel family had been hit by even more tragedies. Kara’s uncle and aunt had died in a car accident, leaving their son behind. Years later, Kara’s mother had followed under circumstances that were foggy at best.

 

Kara’s cousin had left for college and never came back, leaving the just adult and her father solely in charge of what was left of their decimated farm.

 

Lena looked him up, guessing by Kara’s attitude towards the man that there was little love between them. She was surprised when she found his profile. Up and coming journalist at the Daily Planet with thick glasses and black hair. Honestly, if it hadn’t been for the riveting blue eyes Lena never would have guessed that the man was related to Kara.

 

She turned down the gravel driveway, littered with potholes, and made her way towards the cluster of buildings. The main house was dilapidated, there was no denying that. It had been built in an older time and was nearly falling over, but at the same time, there was a lingering sense of heart about the place. Nearly every building was falling down actually, except a cottage built a few hundred metres away from the main house that looked to be freshly painted and renovated.

 

Lena’s mind didn’t have time to wonder at that, instead focusing on the figure of Kara who was leaning against her old truck with a thermos in hand and her dog behind her.

 

The brunette stretched to a halt, sliding on the gravel slightly and stepped out into the still cool air.

 

At a gesture from the farmer, her dog ran towards Lena and leant against her legs happily. The brunette couldn’t help but smile at his happy face, giving him a well-deserved scratch behind the ears before looking up at Kara and making her way towards her.

 

The blonde smiled cheekily at her, taking in her frazzled features. 

 

“Hey there stranger,” she teased.

 

Lena scowled at the tone.

 

“I could kill you for this,” she muttered out. “Give me that coffee…. I hope it’s Irish.”

 

The farmer laughed, handing over the thermos and watching as the businesswoman took an appreciative swig.

 

“No such luck, I’m afraid,” she all but sang.

 

Lena took a minute to enjoy the brew, before speaking once more.

 

“Can you please tell me why I’m here at five am in the morning?” She asked.

 

The farmer smiled, moving around the truck and gesturing for Lena to jump in.

 

“Come on, I’ll show you,” she said. “Did you have breakfast?”

 

Lena snorted, before opening the creaky passenger side door and jumping in.

 

“Do I look like I had time for breakfast?”

 

Kara opened her door, Oscar flying past her to settle on the middle console between them, before climbing in herself. She reached forward for a glad wrapped food on the dashboard and handed it the brunette.

 

“Here, I made you a breakfast burrito to eat on the way.”

 

Lena took it gratefully, ripping into the packaging and taking a huge bite while Kara laughed. The blonde started the loud truck, pulling away from the house and making her way into an empty paddock, following what looked to be the start of a new fence line.

 

The truck ambled along slowly, Oscar panting happily while Lena ate her food, giving the dog the leftovers. The brunette watched the surroundings keenly after that, taking in the quality of the earth and the fences by eye while her mind tallied it all away.

 

About ten minutes passed in silence before Lean turned to the softly smiling farmer and spoke.

 

“I can’t believe I’m back in this death trap,” she murmured. “No wonder I needed to be here early, at the speed you drive we’ll need twice as long to get wherever we’re supposed to go.”

 

The blonde snorted, deliberately hitting a rock.

 

“Quit complaining,” she mused back. “I'm guessing you’re a grump in the morning, but given your usual attitude it might just be a fixture of your personality.”

 

Lena sniffed at the words, true as they were.

 

“Shut up. The only reason I’m staying after being insulted is that you gave me food, and you have a cute dog.”

 

Kara laughed, reaching out to pat her dog’s head while he wiggled excitedly.

 

“Well fair enough. My burritos are legendary and Oscar is the cutest thing on four legs.”

 

The brunette smiled despite herself.

 

“The way to a girl’s heart, food and dogs,” she said sure.

 

The blonde’s eyes darted to hers, before turning back to her driving.

 

“I’ll keep that in mind, Lena.”

 

The green-eyed woman blinked at the use of her first name.

 

“You’re calling me Lena. You did it yesterday as well.”

 

Kara looked guilty.

 

“Oh… sorry? I didn’t… I can call you-“

 

The brunette cut her off, a warm bubble filling her chest at the other woman’s rambling.

 

“No, it’s fine,” she replied. “I usually have a thing about people I don’t know calling me by my first name. It’s too… familiar. Men usually do it and then behave like condescending arses.”

 

Kara laughed.

 

“You don’t have to tell me twice. Men stink.”

 

Lena’s smile widened.

 

“Well, that too. But there are some good ones around.”

 

The farmer rolled her eyes, turning the truck in a new direction.

 

“Yeah, littered amongst the misogynistic, racist arseholes there’s like a grand total of… three in Argo.”

 

“Let me guess. James, Jonn and Winn?”

 

Kara’s face clouded briefly.

 

“Well, Winn’s a bit of a toss-up at the moment… but that’s only because he has a tendency to put his foot in it.”

 

Lena remembered the way Kara had yelled at The Bar yesterday.

 

“Hmmm,” she hummed, before looking outside again with interest. “So where are we going?”

 

The blonde gestured vaguely.

 

“I’m taking you around the farm. Isn’t that what your job is? To inspect?”

 

The brunette rolled her eyes.

 

“Yeah,” she said dryly. “But I wouldn’t have thought you’d be too keen on letting me step foot on its soil.”

 

The farmer shrugged noncommittally.

 

“Well if you don’t see it, how am I supposed to convince you to leave us alone?” She said, half smiling in a way that melted Lena’s heart a little. “Need to flash the goods.”

 

Lena cackled next to her and Kara winced.

 

“Flash the goods?”

 

The blonde groaned.

 

“Yeah, I heard it as soon as I said it.”

 

They fell back into silence, Lena’s head twisting to look outside the window once more. 

 

It was easy, as with everywhere else in the area, to see the effects of the drought. But of all the places Lena had inspected, Kara’s farm seemed to be hit the hardest. The land was barren from the lack of rain and there was something inherently wrong with a farm that sat idle with no crop or animals grazing. This place was near dead waiting for the rains, but all it received was the scorching sun making the earth hardened further. 

 

It was a sight Lena had seen far too often around the country, but driving with Kara, a woman whose sole reason for existing seemed to be tied up to this place made it hit home in a way it never had before. The debt and failure from years of trying sat firmly on her shoulders and the blonde was far too young to be handling it the way she had been.

 

It made Lena feel….

 

“Interesting name,” the brunette suddenly said, starling the blonde. “Solitude.”

 

The farmer smiled and shrugged.

 

“Well, you know us farming types. We’re either completely unoriginal with names or decidedly melancholic.”

 

Lena eyed her with a smirk.

 

“Which one are you?”

 

The farmer laughed.

 

“Both probably!” She chuckled. “Actually the place used to be called the ‘Zorel Ranch’. My grandfather though was a bit of a rebel in his time and decided to change it to ‘Solitude’. I think he was trying to impress a girl with his poetic nature. Bit of a scandal at the time actually.”

 

Lena’s curiosity was piqued.

 

“Why? What happened?”

 

Kara grimaced.

 

“Well, folks around here are pretty… resistant to change. America was built on an ugly history that they’d rather pretend didn’t exist. The girl he wanted to marry was African-American.”

 

Understanding dawned.

 

“Ah.”

 

Kara nodded solemnly and continued.

 

“Yeah, so as you can imagine that didn’t really go down to well with the locals. Thing was, his father and mother had already died by then and he was the only Zorel left. The civil war left its mark on the whole country and people around here were still more progressive than most but… There were rumours of lynchings throughout the county. An interracial marriage was still illegal.”

 

“So what happened?”

 

“He wanted to run away with her, apparently,” the farmer continued, weaving the tale in Lena’s mind. “She was the one to stop him though. She knew what this land meant to him and I think she loved him too much to let them live on the run their whole life. He ended up marrying someone else, my gran. Girl from the next county over and white.”

 

Lena frowned, sad for the couple she didn’t know.

 

“I suppose that got the locals stamp of approval then.”

 

Kara laughed.

 

“Yeah, to start with. But honestly, they probably regretted it, Nana was the biggest rebel there ever was. My grandfather died soon after they got married and she kept this place going during another drought with a baby _and_ a toddler. She was tough as nails and didn’t give a damn about what anyone else thought about her.”

 

Lena smiled at the affection in Kara’s voice.

 

“Wow. Must have been an inspiration to you.”

 

The farmer’s back straightened with pride.

 

“Women in the Zorel clan have always been strong. We need to be. My Nana had a family crest that my grandfather gave her when they got married. The original family crest from whenever we must have immigrated. I don’t know what the original language is, but I was told it means ‘Stronger Together’. She told me as long as we all stuck by that, no matter how many times life knocked us down, we would always get up.”

 

Lena smiled at getting a better understanding of what motivated Kara.

 

“That’s pretty incredible actually. It must have been nice to have a family like that,” she said wistfully, her mind drifting to Lex.

 

The farmer seemed to pick up on her tone.

 

“Yeah… what about your family?” She asked.

 

Lena hesitated, but couldn’t find it within herself to lie.

 

“The only time my family gives you a helping hand is if they want to stab you in the back with the other. Call it the Luthor curse,” she said bitterly.

 

Kara’s eyes flashed briefly with emotion.

 

“But you and your brother get along?”

 

Lena frowned down at her lap.

 

“Yeah… but that's only because we share trauma….” 

 

She remembered the first time she had met Lex and couldn’t help but smile.

 

“No, he really is incredible. I’m adopted, see.”

 

Kara nodded.

 

“I think I read that somewhere.”

 

The business woman’s mouth thinned into a tight line.

 

“Yeah and what you didn’t read was that I was the product of my father’s affair and then adopted after the fact by him and his wife.”

 

The farmer’s eyes widened and her eyebrows almost hit her hairline.

 

“Wow.”

 

Lena sighed deeply.

 

“My mother, Lillian, and I don’t speak.”

 

The blonde turned the truck again and they began to head downhill towards a patch of trees.

 

“May I ask why?” 

 

Lena didn’t hesitate this time, relieved that she finally had someone else to talk to about this other than her brother.

 

“She’s very conservative. Didn’t take it well when I came out and told me I would be cursed to hell.”

 

The farmer whistled.

 

“Fuck.”

 

The brunette nodded, and couldn’t stop the words from pouring out now.

 

“She wanted to disown me too. My father had already died and he gave my brother everything. Lex was the one to stick by me. He told her to get out of both of our lives and he was the one to keep my trust fund going. he moved the company to National City and paid off my mother to stay as far away from both of us as possible. I was still in college at the time and if it hadn’t been for him I would’ve gone completely off the rails.”

 

Kara smiled at her.

 

“He sounds like a really good brother.”

 

Lena nodded, her mind troubled.

 

“He is.”

 

“You sound sad.”

 

The brunette closed her eyes in pain.

 

“We got into an argument this morning,” she whispered. “Turns out that Lillian is dying and wants to ‘make amends’, so he invited her to National City. Like I would want to talk to someone again who thinks I’m going to burn in hell for all eternity. Probably what firmly settled me as an atheist,” she finished in a sardonic tone.

 

The blonde woman laughed 

 

“I’m with you there.”

 

“I’m surprised,” Lena replied. “I thought everyone around here was baking pies for the church fundraiser.”

 

Kara blanched.

 

“God no. Ever since that business with Grandad, the Zorel’s were all but banished from the church. But I’ll take being called a heathen any day over putting up with Rhea Daxam’s sermon hijackings.”

 

Lena snorted at the horror in the other woman’s voice 

 

“She’s a formidable woman.”

 

“She’s a bitch,” Kara replied with spite. “And definitely not in a good way.”

 

The brunette laughed again, but the lightness in her heart vanished quickly. Kara seemed to pick up on it and began to speak in a gentle voice.

 

“Hey, not that I’m an expert on anything at all… But it sounds like your brother really loves you. Maybe you should cut him some slack. It must have been hard for him to do that, especially if they were close. He wouldn’t have invited her otherwise. You don’t have to talk to her, but don’t begrudge him the chance. Take from someone who lost more good family than I can count… don’t let him slip through your fingers.”

 

Lena could hear the solemn truth in Kara’s words, something only learned by experience and she gave her a short nod.

 

“You may have a point.”

 

The farmer hummed but didn’t say anything else on the matter. Instead, she pulled a stop by a thick area of trees that led down a sharp incline.

 

“Ok, we’re here,” she said, pulling the handbrake tightly. “But be warned, from here on out it’s a bit of a walk.”

 

The blonde jumped out of the truck, Oscar following and waited for Lena to do the same.

 

“Seriously?” The brunette asked once her feet were on the ground and eyeing the slightly lighter sky. “Now I have to go trekking?”

 

Kara rolled her eyes and began to walk off.

 

“Don’t be such a baby, or I’ll sling you over my shoulder.”

 

Lena rolled her eyes and grumbled to herself.

 

“I’ll walk.”

 

The farmer nodded.

 

“Good.”

 

They walked silently for five minutes, moving slowly while Lena followed Kara’s steady pace carefully. The blonde farmer gently pushing branched aside, leaving only a few scratches on the brunette's arm. As they moved down the hill, the green-eyed woman more and more aware that they’d have to walk back up it, she became increasingly agitated.

 

Blowing a sweaty piece of hair out of her face, they finally made their way out of the trees.

 

“Now that I have been torn to shreds by branches, can you tell me-”

 

Kara cut her off, holding out her hand and smiling giddily.

 

“Ok, close your eyes and take my hand.”

 

The brunette frowned.

 

“What?”

 

The farmer tilted her head in amusement.

 

“Come on,” she drawled with a smirk. “Trust me.”

 

Lena never trusted anyone, but for some reason, she took the woman’s proffered hand and shut her eyes as bid.

 

“Ok.”

 

The blonde began to lead her carefully, the sounds of waking birds chattering softly as they walked over the crunching of dried leaves. It was another minute before the farmer stopped them, dropping Lena’s hand and standing behind her.

 

“Right, open your eyes in three… two… one.”

 

Lena did as she was told, blinking at the clearing they were in, still confused why Kara had brought them here.

 

“What-“

The farmer gripped her shoulder lightly, stopping her speaking.

 

“Shhh, wait.”

 

A few more seconds passed when it finally happened. The peaking of orange light finally rose over the horizon and filtered through the dead branches and forming new shadows throughout the clearing they were standing in. The was a dry river bed cutting across it, leading away from what looked like a small waterfall. Even though the life had been sucked dry from the place in the heat, it still hummed with potential,

 

And it was still beautiful.

 

“This is extraordinary,” Lena whispered, still looking around.

 

Kara hummed, moving to stand next to her with soft eyes.

 

“It’s my special place. If I were to get married, this is where it would be,” she whispered.

 

The green-eyed woman tilted her head at the farmer.

 

“If?”

 

The taller woman shrugged.

 

“Bit hard to date when you’re consumed by your work.”

 

Lena let out an understanding breath.

 

“According to my ex, that’s why my marriage fell apart.”

 

Kara scratched the back of her neck.

 

“I’m not really relationship material,” she muttered.

 

The brunette shook her head, unusually aghast.

 

“I don’t know about that. You seem to care a whole damn lot about everything you do. I bet you would show the same devotion to anyone you ended up with. I think you’d bring a lot to a relationship.”

 

Kara gave her a disbelieving look.

 

“Like what?” She asked. “I’m broke and I’m always tired.”

 

The brunette turned to face her, gathering her thoughts before she replied.

 

“You’re caring. You’re kind. You don’t take crap from people. You’re a fighter. You love your family, you love your friends. People love you. You’re intelligent, you can be charming when you want and you’re pretty good looking. I think you have a lot to offer any guy.”

 

Kara stared at her, eyes flashing with memory and amusement before she nodded and turned back to the clearing.

 

Lena joined her, looking around once more and almost missing out on the farmer’s whispered words.

 

“Or girl.”

 

The brunette blinked.

 

“I’m sorry?” She asked.

 

Kara hesitated, before shrugging.

 

“Guy or girl. I like both.”

 

The brunette nodded, hardly surprised, but replied gently not knowing if this was Kara’s first confession.

 

“Oh. I had my suspicions, but…”

 

The blonde winced as if she was pained.

 

“It’s not… people around here don’t really know. I mean, my friends do but it’s not something I really advertise to much. And I figured, as long as I’m not in a real relationship, who cares right?”

 

Lena nodded with understanding.

 

“I get it. I’m the last person who would run around outting anyone. Dick move and all.”

 

The farmer rushed to reply.

 

“I’m not ashamed of myself. I just have enough to deal with that I don’t want to advertise. There are enough homophobic pricks around here to make shit even more difficult for me if they know. Though I admit, I feel like a bit of a hypocrite.”

 

Lena didn’t reply quickly.

 

“Because Alex is gay?”

 

The farmer gave her a surprised look.

 

“How did you-“

 

Lena arched an eyebrow in amusement.

 

“I have pretty good gaydar, Kara,” she said dryly. “And even though we’ve only talked in the passing… well.”

 

The farmer nodded in acceptance, her eyes lost in thought for a few minutes before she spoke in a wistful voice.

 

“It’s so hard for her. She likes to pretend she’s the toughest badass around, but she takes everything to heart. It took her so long to even consider the possibility, that now she’s like a flighty colt. Ready to run for the hills as soon as someone gives her a funny look. I probably don’t have a leg to stand on, but nobody is ‘out’ around here. No one.”

 

She said it so sadly, that Lena cursed the general intolerance of people in the world in her head.

 

“Well, there’s me,” she said lightly. “Nobody seems to have an issue with me.”

 

Kara didn’t seem convinced.

 

“It’s different. The major homophobes also want you to buy their land, so they smile to your face and choose to ignore your ‘lifestyle choices’.”

 

The brunette sighed.

 

“I couldn’t live like that.”

 

Kara hummed thoughtfully.

 

“Haven’t you ever traded things in life? Doing something so you can get something else? Alex just trades being ‘out’ for peace and quiet.”

 

“But never being able to love who you love aloud?” Lena replied. “Isn’t that it’s own hell.”

 

The blonde smiled down at her.

 

“I thought you would have been too cynical to believe in love, Lena.”

 

The brunette huffed.

 

“Once upon a time, I thought I’d thought I’d found the girl of my dreams.”

 

“Your ex?”

 

The green-eyed woman’s thoughts sifted through painful memories.

 

“Ronnie… Veronica,” she began with a croak. “She was so… she just embraced life in a way I’d been too scared to do. I adored her and when she gave me a sliver of attention it made me weak at the knees. It was great, for a while. I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t realise how unhappy she was until it was too late.”

 

“What happened?”

 

Lena shrugged.

 

“She liked the money I was bringing in, doing these jobs. She also liked the time I spent away so she could have affairs.”

 

The farmer cursed.

 

“Shit.”

 

The businesswoman let out a harsh laugh.

 

“Yeah. I thought we were on the same page. I wanted to take a job in the company where I could stay at home. I was ready to start a family and I thought she was too. Turns out, she didn’t want that at all. She wanted a divorce. I didn’t really fight it, it was devastating a the time, but once I found out about all the affairs…. I was just furious. Particularly when she screwed me over in court. Now I have to pay her alimony because she had ‘grown accustomed to a certain lifestyle’. Talk about bullshit. I think she’s off in Europe right now with a yacht of models whose champagne I’m funding.”

 

Kara groaned when she ended her story.

 

“Fuck… that’s a case not to get married if I’ve ever heard one.”

 

“Tell me about it,” Lena snorted. “Guess it was probably not a good idea for you to take me to this spot then.”

 

The farmer shook her head and stared at the brunette with disbelief.

 

“Are you kidding?” She asked, gesturing around. “Can’t you see it in your mind?”

 

Lena blinked, looking around the clearing quickly, before turning back to Kara with a confused frown.

 

“See what?”

 

The farmer laughed, grabbing Lena’s hand quickly and pulling her a few metres forward. Steadying her and turning her to face a specific direction, Kara stood behind her and all but wrapped against her. Lacing her arms across the brunette’s, making Lena flush, so she could whisper in her ear and they could gesture together. 

 

“The rains have finally come and the river is flowing once more,” she hushed, pointing their hands in its direction. “The sound of the waterfall in the background while you stand in the clearing.”

 

Lena could see it in her mind, just the way Kara was describing. Falling and letting out a small roar of tumbling water.

 

“A small ceremony of good friends while they sit on hay bales,” the farmer continued. “You stand by the riverbed, no arch but surrounded by green trees. You’re nervous and excited. Fidgeting on your feet and that’s when it happens.”

 

The brunette could see it again, waiting with a justice of the peace while faceless friends sat on hay bales, waiting. Her brother beaming by her side.

 

“A slow, single violin plays… You’re Irish right? So.. Danny Boy. Just then, the light from the sun filters through the leaves just so and the canopy seems to shiver in anticipation. That’s when you see her. Dressed in white and walking towards you.”

 

Lena could see it.

 

“She’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen and she’s bathed in light,” Kara continued. "All your nervousness and fears melt away. All you know for sure is that you don’t think you’ll ever love anyone as much as you love someone right now. Everything just clicks into place, and on this land that thrums with history, blood and hopes you take her hand in yours and make her your family.”

 

The brunette closed her eyes, watching her faceless bride walk towards her. Bathed in the light like an angel, just the way Kara described. Talking her hand and speaking her vows and promises. The idea that they were continuing on a family that really meant something. 

 

The blonde’s breath tickled against her ear.

 

“Do you see it?”

 

And just like that, the face of her bride morphed into Kara’s.

 

“Yeah….” Lena said, scared and stepping away from the farmer’s hold so she could get some distance.

 

The blonde was watching her with deep emotion etched onto her face, holding her gaze until she turned to look around the clearing once more.

 

“Tell me that you wouldn’t fight for that.”

 

Lena followed her gaze, still seeing the image Kara had painted in her mind.

 

“I can’t,” she said haggardly.

 

The blonde gave her a sad look, before shaking her head and gesturing for Lena to follow her back up the hill to the truck.

 

“Come on then, townie. Let me show you the rest of the place.”

 

* * *

 

The rest of the trip around the farm had been tense, the emotion on the morning lingering in every action they both did. It took a few hours, but Lena couldn’t help but feel a newfound emotional appreciation for the place she had written off as near death in her mind. 

 

The sun had just peaked at midday when they finally finished. Kara began to drive them in a direction other than the house.

 

“God these days get hot,” Lena said, happy to get even a bit of weak air con from the car. “Where are we going now?” She asked.

 

Kara drove through an open gate and smiled at her.

 

“I figured,” she drawled. “That I’d take you over to the Danvers for lunch.”

 

Lena was surprised.

 

“Really? And I’ll be welcome there?”

 

The blonde shrugged.

 

“Well, Alex might give you a few funny looks but just distract her by telling her a fun science fact. That’s what I do. Plus, Eliza loves everyone and will just want to feed you the whole time.”

 

Lena was still unsure but took Kara at her word. 

 

“Well, if you’re sure.”

 

They drove for a few more minutes, Lena noting that the land they were now on looked better cared for than the Zorel’s. They drove their way up to a respectable and well-maintained house, Kara pulling up outside and set of trucks and a nondescript car that made the blonde laugh when she noticed it.

 

Oscar jumped over her lap as soon as she opened the door, running up the steps and jumping on a dog bed that seemed to be designated for him. Lena followed Kara wearily, still unsure about the reception she would receive.

 

“Hey, ya’ll!” Kara shouted, clearly having no such doubts as she walked up the steps.

 

A kind looking older blonde woman opened the screen door, a spatula in her hand. She smiled widely and gave the young farmer a tight hug while Lena lingered behind.

 

“Kara! I haven’t seen you in days! Have you been eating?” She asked, oozing motherly concern,

 

The blonde laughed her off, twisting to so the older woman could see Lena properly.

 

“Good to see you too, Eliza. I brought someone with me for lunch, is that cool?”

 

The woman’s smile didn’t falter, which made Lena relax slightly.

 

“Of course, the more the merrier.”

 

The farmer smiled and walked into the house without prompting, leaving Lena to walk up the steps awkwardly. She held out her hand to shake.

 

“Hello Mrs Danvers, my name is-“

 

The woman cut her off, taking the hand and squeezing.

 

“Lena Luthor, yes I know who you are. Please, come in.”

 

Lena followed behind her, taking in the warm home with a smile. Looking around the place was cluttered with memories, photos lining the walls filled with members of the Danvers clan old and new. Eliza stood with another man Lena had never met and a younger Alex in many, but he seemed to disappear when Alex became older. 

 

Kara was a prominent member too, and it was amusing to see her at a young age, toothily grinning up at the camera with her arms wrapped around Alex while they both wore Stenson’s far too big for them.

 

“I’m sorry to impose,” Lena said quickly as they followed Kara down the hall.

 

“Believe me, you aren’t,” Eliza said happily. “I’m always happy to have company.”

 

Lena couldn’t help but melt at the older woman’s sincere tone.

 

“Thank you.”

 

They walked into the kitchen, Kara rushing to pick up a made sandwich before punching her redheaded friend, perched on a stool, in the shoulder.

 

“Hey loser, what are you doing here?” Alex asked with a grin.

 

Kara took the seat next to her.

 

“Just coming to check if you were still sleeping in,” she teased. “Don’t you know the meaning of work?”

 

Alex rolled her eyes.

 

“Course I do, you just…” 

 

She trailed off, noticing Lena for the first time and her eyes widened.

 

“Uh, hello?”

 

Eliza stepped around the brunette, making her way back to the stove and busying about.

 

“Alex, you remember Ms Luthor?” She said.

 

The redhead’s face hardened and she looked at the brunette suspiciously. 

 

“Yes.”

 

Lena tried not to wince at the tight tone, bracing herself and held her hand out to the redhead as she stepped forward.

 

“Nice to meet you, Ms Danvers,” she said formally.

 

Alex shook it limply.

 

“…sure.”

 

An awkward silence descended, Lena, shifting on her feet and uncertain about what exactly she was supposed to do now. Kara was the one to break it, finishing her sandwich she looked at her friend with a confused expression.

 

“Seriously though, did you just get up?”

 

Alex blushed and her eyes flickered to a pair of heavy boots next to the to the doorway.She barely had a second to reply, when someone new turned around the corridor and entered the room. Lena blinked, recognising the Argo sheriff.

 

Maggie blinked, taking in the people she wasn’t expecting and quickly shoved her shirt into her pants. 

 

“Kara,” she drawled, eyes flickering to Lena. “Nice to see you outside of court for once.”

 

The blonde farmer smirked at a rapidly reddening Alex, before turning back to the dimpled woman.

 

“Still spending your days driving Lord home after he’s had a few too many?” She teased back.

 

Maggie sighed, accepting the sandwich Eliza was holding out for her with a murmured thanks.

 

“The joys of country living,” she replied dryly, her eyes flickering back to Lena’s.

 

She coughed, straightening and Lena noticed for the first time that she wasn’t wearing any shoes.

 

“Now move out of the way so I can say hello like a civilised human,” she said, pushing past the protesting blonde. “Hi there, Ms Luthor. I’m the local Sheriff, Maggie Sawyer.”

 

Lena nodded in reply.

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, but please call me Lena. All of you.”

 

Kara smiled at her words, but Alex’s frown deepened.

 

Maggie shifted unsteadily, her gaze moving to the redhead, before back to the door. She walked forward, picking up the boots on the ground and began to walk to the door.

 

“Well, I better get going… Thank you for letting me use your bathroom Eliza, but I’ve got other… police business.”

 

“Busy Saturday?” Kara teased.

 

Maggie looked back at Alex, who was watching her with longing in her eyes. The dimpled woman opened her mouth to say something, but her eyes flickered back to Lena’s.

 

“Yeah… lot’s of policing,” she said sadly.

 

She had barely taken a step when the redhead stood up quickly.

 

“No,” Alex said, holding out her hand for Maggie’s. “Stay for lunch.”

 

The cop's eyes widened.

 

“Ms Danvers-“

 

Alex took a struggled breath, eyes closing for a few seconds before they opened and she smiled widely at the shorter woman.

 

“You really should learn to call me by my first name, after all, you are my girlfriend.”

 

The words rang in the air and a beautiful smile grew on Maggie’s face.

 

“I… I am?”

 

The redhead took her hand, tugging her back to the counter.

 

“You made a convincing argument last night.”

 

Kara snorted into her tea.

 

“I bet she did!”

 

“Shut up, Kara,” Alex said before looking at Lena challengingly.

 

The brunette took her own seat.

 

“I remember the night my first girlfriend and I made things ‘offical’.” She replied in response. “I had to sneak her out the window in the morning. My mother would have killed me if she’d found her.”

 

Alex didn’t reply, but her mouth relaxed slightly when Maggie rubbed her back in comfort.

 

“Eliza is so chill that way,” Kara said, deliberately oblivious.

 

“That’s because I’d rather you be here than in a field somewhere, doing who knows what,” Eliza interjected.

 

Alex groaned.

 

“Mom, I’m not a teenager.”

 

The older woman turned from the stove, levelling her daughter with a single look.

 

“Did I, or did I not catch you and Kara drunk and shooting air rifles at bottles last week?”

 

Lena and Maggie grinned at the equally abashed looks on the other women’s faces.

 

“Yeah, but that was last week, Eliza,” the blonde farmer finally said. “Alex was sulking and I was due in court. We’ve matured since then.”

 

The older woman rolled her eyes and turned to face the businesswoman.

 

“Please ignore them, Lena. Tell me more about yourself. Where did you go to school?”

 

* * *

 

“Well, that wasn’t half bad, was it?” Kara asked once they were driving back to the Zorel farm.

 

Lena hummed, happily full.

 

“Eliza was lovely and it was nice to talk about Maggie’s old job in Gotham. Alex looked like she wanted to shoot me the whole time.”

 

Kara laughed and shrugged.

 

“Nah, that’s just how Alex looks at everyone from out of town. She’s a bit paranoid like that.”

 

The brunette tilted her head 

 

“Then how did she and Maggie get together?”

 

The blonde groaned in exasperation.

 

“Long story. If you want to embarrass Alex, make sure you ask the Sheriff in front of her. Maggie’s version goes on for about two hours, recounting _both_ of their childhoods leading up to the fateful night when the sexual tension just went kablam.”

 

Lena smiled at the thought.

 

“I’ll be sure to do that. Thank you, by the way. Today was… nice.”

 

The farmer turned the truck slightly.

 

“Nice enough to change your mind?” She asked with a grin.

 

Lena laughed.

 

“No, sorry.”

 

The blonde shook her head in mock defeat.

 

“Don’t worry, Ms Luthor. You’ve revealed your hand now, I know you’ve got a big heart even if you try to hide it. I’m not giving up on you yet.”

 

“No?”

 

Kara winked at her, making Lena flush.

 

“Nope.”

 

They drove the rest of the way without speaking, Kara singing to herself until they reached the farmhouse. The pair exited the vehicle and began to walk towards Lena’s car slowly. They stood next to it, uncertain of what to say to each other now, 

 

Kara smiled at her with a hopeful look in her eyes.

 

“So, I guess I’ll be seeing you-“

 

“KARA!”

 

Kara paled, her words interrupted by a harsh shout. They both turned in its direction, Lena taking in the ratty robed sight of an older man with grey stubble and sunken eyes staring hard at his daughter.

 

The blonde farmer let out a defeated sigh.

 

“Hi, Dad,” she replied.

 

Lena blinked at the man when his accusing stare turned to her.

 

“That’s your father?” She whispered.

 

Kara looked at her earnestly.

 

“Please, Lena. Just get in the car and go,” she begged.

 

The brunette frowned.

 

“Why?”

 

The didn’t have time to explain her request though, her father’s voice interrupting once more 

 

“Kara, where the hell have you been all day?”

 

Kara closed her eyes as is she was in pain, before backing away from Lena and talking to her dad with a tight smile.

 

“I told you last night Dad that I’d be busy today.”

 

The man’s scowl deepened.

 

“No you didn’t, Kara. You never tell me anything.”

 

The last words were said in a whine and the blonde farmer began to flush with shame, her eyes flashing to Lena.

 

“Dad, this is Ms Luthor,” she tried to introduce. “She’s the woman sent by that company to look at the land in the area.”

 

The man’s eyes snapped back to Lena’s with fury and the brunette swelled hard. 

 

“Mr Zorel, it’s nice to-“

 

He cut her off with a bark.

 

“Yeah, yeah I know who you are. So that’s what you’ve been doing all day, Kara?” He turned back to his daughter. “Showing some _Democrat_ around and trying to sell the farm out from under me?”

 

Kara’s mouth gapped with shock, and Lena found herself angry on the farmer’s behalf.

 

“No, Dad. How could you even say that?”

 

The man launched into a rant.

 

“You think I don’t know? The way you never talk to me anymore, the way you’re always out. Is this what you’ve been doing the whole time? Secretly plotting? What were you going to do then, huh? Sell the place, dump me in an old folk home and then run off to the city like Clark? Might as well take me out the back and shoot me, because I’m never leaving!”

 

Kara sighed, slumping on her feet.

 

“I would never do that, Dad.”

 

“Did she tell you that this is my land, Luthor?” He questioned Lena angrily. “It’s in my name, not hers!”

 

Lena’s mind flashed back to the conversation she’d had with her brother this morning. The echo of similar words resounding in her mind like bullets.

 

“Dad, stop it,” Kara snapped back.

 

The man seemed to sway on his feet, bracing himself against a post as his face turned white.

 

“Spreading lies… Loyalty’s the only thing that matters, Kara,” he whispered out.

 

The blonde farmer’s face collapsed, tears brimming as she watched her father.

 

“I know Dad.”

 

The man nodded slowly, before turning away from them both and stumbling back towards the house.

 

“I feel really unwell…”

 

His daughter sighed sadly.

 

“Go back inside, Dad. I’ll be in a minute and I’ll make you some lunch.”

 

The door closed behind him at the end of the blonde’s whisper and Lena watched as a few tears dripped down her cheeks. 

 

“Kara, it’s ok-“

 

The woman snapped her head around at that, looking at Lena with fury.

 

“Don’t. Don’t pity me. Don’t pretend that you care!” She shouted out.

 

The brunette took a step back at the violent tone.

 

“Kara-“

 

The blonde stepped forward and into her space.

 

“What? Huh? Wasn’t I an idiot. Now you know for sure, you’ve seen it with your own eyes that the rumours are right. My father is the town drunk and he’s drinking us into the ground. Don’t pretend like you care and that you aren’t going to use this to leverage me emotionally. So you can steal my land from under me?”

 

Lena’s face grew cold at the other woman’s accusations and everything they had shared that morning faded away into the cold light of reality.

 

“The sale of this land is inevitable, Kara. I’m just trying to make the relationship between us civil so we can reach mutually beneficial goals.”

 

Kara kicked the tyre of Lena’s car.

 

“Don’t do that. Don’t use big city speak to take the emotion out of what you’re telling me,” she snapped. “Stop lying to yourself and to us. What you’re doing is wrong. This is my home, Lena. You’re trying to take my home away from me.”

 

The brunette’s jaw tightened.

 

“It’s just business, Kara.”

 

The farmer squeezed her eyes shut, and more tears fell.

 

“It’s not business to me.”

 

The words echoed and Lena felt a wave of guilt hit her like an avalanche.

 

“Kara-“

 

The farmer turned and began to walk away.

 

“Get off my land, Lena. And don’t come back.” 

 

The brunette did as she was told.

 

* * *

 

It was only once Lena was back in Argo, parked outside The Bar that the numbness in her chest melted away and her own tears began to fall.

 

She hit her steering wheel, letting out a string of violent curses and was jerked to a stop when someone tapped on her window.

 

The brunette jerked her head and flushed with embarrassment to see an amused Ruby and her concerned mother standing outside, hands full of groceries.

 

“Ahhh, you ok Ms Luthor?” Ruby asked through the glass.

 

Lena nodded, wiping her eyes and exited the car quickly.

 

“I’m fine,” she responded briskly. “I’m sorry for looking…. bad day.”

 

Ruby and her mom exchanged glances before the teen turned back to Lena.

 

“Do you wanna come over for dinner?” She asked.

 

“I’m sorry?”

 

Ruby gave her an earnest smile.

 

“It’ll be good! Mom’s the best cook in the county bar Eliza Danvers. And we’ve got air con.”

 

The brunette shouldn’t want to say yes, but she felt so hurt and she really didn’t want to face the prospect of sitting alone in her dingy room with no one to talk to when she was feeling so hurt.

 

“I… Is that ok?” Lena asked Sam.

 

The woman smiled and nodded.

 

“Sure. It’d be nice to have someone to talk too. Ever since Ruby became a teen, all I get is long, sullen silences.”

 

The girl scowled and protested.

 

“Hey!”

 

Lena smiled at the obvious love between the pair and nodded.

 

“Well, in that case… thank you.”

 

Sam’s smile grew.

 

“We’re heading back to our place now if you want to come with?”

 

Lena looked down at her dusty clothes, sticking to her body with old sweat.

 

“Oh, I really should get changed and it’s far too early.”

 

Ruby protested.

 

“It’s fine, seriously. You can hang out with me and play Mario Kart.”

 

Her mother snorted.

 

“Excuse me, miss. You’re helping me peel vegetables.”

 

Ignoring her daughter’s grumbling, she smiled at Lena again.

 

“But seriously, I’ll crack open a bottle of wine.”

 

Ruby groaned.

 

“Careful Mom, you’ll fall asleep after one glass and then _I’ll_ have to make dinner.”

 

Lena laughed as Sam groaned in exasperation.

 

“Lord help me… Ms Luthor, pray that you’re never cursed with a smart-mouthed daughter,” she said before the three of them began to walk together down the road.

 

“I should be so lucky.”

 

* * *

 

Lena dropped her cutlery with a satisfied smile.

 

“Well, that was delicious, Ms Arias. A nice change from the meals I’ve been forced to endure at The Bar.”

 

Sam grimaced.

 

“Ah, yes. Megann’s famous chicken pot pie with more bone than meat… and please, call me Sam,” she said easily as she collected the plates.

 

The brunette smiled.

 

“Fine, then please call me Lena. Both of you,” she said with a nod at Ruby, who looked positively delighted at her words.

 

“You up for dessert then, Lena?” The girl asked. “Mom and I made apple pie yesterday.”

 

Lena smiled at the girl and gave her a wink.

 

“I love apple pie,” she confessed.

 

Ruby rushed to collect it.

 

“Cool. It’s Kara’s favourite too, but she made you mad so we can eat it instead.”

 

Lena cursed her own mouth. The tiniest bit of pressure had caused her to reveal to the mother and daughter that it was the blonde farmer that had her tied up in knots. 

 

“She didn’t make me mad, Ruby. I just don’t get her. I mean, everything was going well and I thought, finally. We might have reached an understanding. I just don’t understand why she has to be so contrary. It’s not… I wasn’t going to mock her for the fact that she had an alcoholic father.”

 

Ruby nodded wisely.

 

“Ah, so you met crazy old Zorel. No wonder Kara went nuts.”

 

Sam frowned at the teen.

 

“Ruby, don’t call Mr Zorel that,” she said sharply, her daughter flushing at being chastised.

 

The older woman turned back to Lena and placed a piece of pie in front of her.

 

“The thing that you have to realise Lena, is that Kara is very… protective of her father. He’s the only family she’s got left and around here we just don’t talk about our struggles. We keep our dirty laundry at home.”

 

Ruby chimed in.

 

“Yeah, like when Mom was pregnant with me. Or the fact that Auntie Alex has a raging lady boner for Sheriff Sawyer.”

 

Lena snorted into her food and Sam looked at her daughter horrified.

 

“Ruby!”

 

The teen mumbled to herself.

 

“Sorry….”

 

The businesswoman bit her lip to stop herself from smiling.

 

“Despite my daughter’s crassness,” Sam continued. “She has a point. This is rural America, Lena. We aren’t quite as evolved as the east and west coasters. Being tough as hell is valued more than tenderness.”

 

“And if you do feel like crying like a girl, you just go for a drive and play some Johnny Cash,” Ruby added.

 

Lena took a bite of her pie before answering.

 

“Sounds like the lot of you are emotionally repressed.”

 

The other woman let out a laugh.

 

“I guess it contributes… Farming in this country has the highest suicide rate of all industries. Things out here are… difficult. The worst part is we’re drowning and we’re terrified. Our whole way of life, over the whole world, is dying and nobody else in this country seems to care. Nobody listens, least of all the politicians. That’s why so many of us get turned radical right. Liberals don’t relate to us, which is crazy when you think about it. Aren’t we all just working class people doing their best to get by? Whether it’s in a cramped apartment with a leaky ceiling or a patch of infertile land that an albatross around your neck, we’re all in debt. We all need change.”

 

Ruby spoke up quickly.

 

“Expect people around here turn into Bible Bashing Nazis.”

 

Sam shook her head at her daughter.

 

“Not all of them.”

 

Ruby grinned, waggling her eyebrows at Lena.

 

“Yeah, some of us are furthering the Gay Agenda.”

 

Her mother let out a long-suffering sigh while Lena cracked up.

 

“Ruby…. Please don’t laugh and encourage her, Lena. My daughter thinks sarcasm is the epitome of wit.”

 

The teen leaned back in her seat.

 

“Hey, I’m hilarious and everyone knows it. All I know is I can’t wait to get out of this town, this state and move to somewhere you can eat Chinese food without your neighbours wondering if you’re becoming a communist.”

 

Sam let her forehead drop with a thud against the table.

 

“My lot in life, Lena. My daughter wants nothing but to run away as far as she can.”

 

The green-eyed woman eyed the other woman curiously.

 

“You never thought about leaving.”

 

“Once, I did. But then life happened.”

 

Ruby spoke sadly.

 

“You mean I happened.”

 

Her mother reached out, touching her daughter’s arm lightly.

 

“I don’t regret anything, Ruby. You were the best thing to happen to me. Nothing else in the world could compare to the gift that is you. The second you were placed in my arms-“

 

“You knew I was the love of your life, blah blah blah,” the girl groaned. “I know Mom. Jesus, you really need to get a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend! You could date Lena!”

 

Lena choked on her pie and Sam groaned again.

 

“I think Lena’s actually got her eye on someone else, dear. Now come on, I know you haven’t finished your homework yet.”

 

Ruby pushed back her chair with a loud scrape.

 

“Ughhhh… fine. Goodnight Mom, night Lena.”

 

The girl walked off and at the sound of a door closing, the brunette looked at the other woman.

 

“She’s a spitfire.”

 

Sam nodded, a fond but sad smile playing on her face.

 

“She’s had a difficult time of it. Especially lately. It wasn’t easy for her growing up, but at least when she was little she went to school here and I could keep an eye on her. But high school in Kandor has been tough. She doesn’t have many friends and she’s always been a loner. Her grades have dropped and she’s been suspended twice for truancy and fighting.”

 

Lena reached out to touch the other woman’s hand briefly.

 

“I know it’s hard now, and I certainly don’t want to presume but I think she’ll be ok. I was troubled teen too and things worked out for me.”

 

Sam smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

 

“I just worry. She doesn’t have the same financial safety net that you probably had and I just want her to live the life of her dreams. Ruby is so smart and funny. When she applies herself, she's good at everything she does. I just don’t want her opportunities limited because the school writes off her behaviour as bad, rather than trying to support her through it.”

 

Lena took a deep breath before replying.

 

“I know it can’t be easy being a single mother trying to raise a kid, especially in this town. But Ruby already has something that I never had growing up. She’s got a loving family. You, Kara and Alex. All those photos of Christmas and Thanksgiving with Eliza, James, Winn and Jonn. Ruby’s got so many people who love her and care about her. That’ll be there for her. That’s pretty incredible.”

 

Sam smiled fully this time.

 

“I know and we’re so lucky. When I got pregnant the father… well, he didn’t want anything to do with it. You’ve got to understand around here, getting pregnant out of wedlock is a mortal sin. There are people who still don’t talk to me and call Ruby a bastard in front of her. I was so alone and scared, my mother kicked me out. It was Kara who looked after me. The Danvers took me in, but they did it because Kara asked. And her home life was already so difficult. I was just this pregnant teen trying to pass high school when the one person in it who was getting worse grades than me was helping me out. She was there with me every step of the way. Kara ditched school to drive me to the ultrasounds and she bailed on calving at the Grant’s for the birth, which is ironic. She’s definitely been a better parental figure than Ruby’s father would ever have been. Kara really is the most amazing person.”

 

Lena’s thoughts flashed to Kara and the way she held her arms around her today.

 

A small blush grew on her face as Sam watched her knowingly.

 

“Sounds like Ruby might be right. Maybe you should date her.”

 

The woman sighed.

 

“I would be so lucky. Unfortunately for me, given the quality of men around here, I’m as straight as an arrow.”

 

Lena groaned at that.

 

“Men are like that everywhere, why do you think I’m a lesbian?”

 

A full-bellied laugh rumbled out of Sam.

 

“God, you make me laugh Lena. You know, even though you are a big city boss trying to ruin all our lives, I’m kind of glad you came here. This town needed a breath of fresh air. Kara needed a partner in crime to ruffle feathers with. Things are actually happening again, with or against your goal, but it’s still happening.”

 

Lena prodded at her last piece of the pie.

 

“I’m not Kara’s ‘partner in crime’. We don’t even like each other, something she made very clear today. It’s just business,” she grumbled.

 

Sam didn’t look like she believed her.

 

“Sure, and that’s why you spent the whole night talking about her. You strike me as pretty tough, Lena. You must get yelled at a lot, but I don’t think you take it personally. Kara must mean something to you if you got so upset about a fight.”

 

Lena shrugged.

 

“She’s annoying, that’s all.”

 

Sam patted her shoulder sympathetically.

 

“Give her some time, Lena. She’s had a hard life, even by the standards around here. She wants to do the best by everyone and she has such a big heart. But she’s been hurt a lot.”

 

Lena frowned.

 

“She doesn't seem that willing to get along,” the brunette said uneasily.

 

“Lena,” Sam began seriously, making the other woman look at her. “She invited you to look around Solitude. She brought you to breakfast with the Danvers.”

 

“Then she told me to never come back.”

 

Sam shrugged.

 

“All the same, doing all that… Kara wears her heart on her sleeve, but that land is her soul. If she showed you that… well.”

 

Lena coughed, disbelief etched on her face.

 

“What, now you think she likes me?” She asked.

 

Sam pursed her lips.

 

“All I’m saying is, this is the single most stressful time of her life and I’ve never seen her more energised.”

 

“Gearing for a fight,” Lena justified.

 

Sam gave her a mom look then.

 

“Yeah, and she almost talks about you as much as you talk about her.”

 

Lena flushed.

 

“Shut up.”

 

* * *

 

Lena was staring up at her ceiling later that night, unable to get to sleep when she sighed and reached for her phone. Pressing a familiar contact.

 

“Lena, I didn’t expect to hear from you,” Lex said with surprise when he picked up.

 

She struggled for a second.

 

“I needed to talk to… I needed to talk to my brother.”

 

Lena could hear the sound of rustling sheets, wincing at realising she had woken him.

 

“What is it? Are you ok?”

 

A tear slipped down her face.

 

“I… Lex, I’m fucking up here.”

 

“What are you talking about?” He questioned. “I’ve read all the reports you’ve been sending back. Everything is on track. You’ve already got confirmations from all the big players in the area, except for Grant, as well as half a dozen small-time farmers. Everything is on schedule, you’re doing great!”

 

Lena shook her head, struggling for breath.

 

“No, Lex I know I’m doing my job but…. Do you ever get disheartened with your job? Like you just don’t believe in the direction the company is taking? All this land grabbing, taking people’s homes and livelihoods again and again. I don’t…”

 

Her brother took a deep breath.

 

“Lena, I’m… I’m sorry that you’re feeling like this, but we can’t back out. Not now. Luther Corp needs this, you know that. If you can’t handle it though, I can send someone else-“

 

She cut him off.

 

“No, no. Don’t do that. I can do this. I’m just…”

 

A few seconds of silence passed.

 

“What’s brought this on, Lena. You’ve never felt like this before and you asked me for this job. Tell me what’s going through your head.”

 

Kara’s face grew in her mind like an unwanted spectre.

 

“You were right, Lex. I caught feelings,” she admitted.

 

“Ah,” he replied knowingly. “The cowgirl?”

 

“Yeah. Her name is-“

 

“Kara,” he replied, exasperated. “I know. You talk about her every night.”

 

The brunette groaned, burying her head in a pillow.

 

“Apparently that’s all I do,” she mumbled out.

 

“And this girl’s got you all tied up in knots?”

 

Lena felt like screaming.

 

“She yelled at me today. I mean, people have yelled at me before but today I just… I could feel the emotion in her voice, Lex. The idea of losing her farm is killing her and I… I hurt for her.”

 

Lex groaned.

 

“Lena, I’m so sorry that you’re going through this,” he whispered.

 

“So am I… all for a stupid crush. Typical of me to over-invest in random girls.”

 

He heisted before answering.

 

“She doesn’t sound like just a random girl, Lena. You sound like you really care about this woman. I don’t think you’ve ever really talked about a girl like this.”

 

“Oh come on-“

 

Her brother cut her off once more.

 

“No, I’m not lying. You’re easily infatuated, true. But that just means you refuse to see your girlfriend’s faults. You put them on pedestals as if they’re untouchable angels. Don’t even get me started on Veronica-“

 

Lena scowled.

 

“Please, I just recovered from the latest alimony payment.”

 

Lex laughed.

 

“What I’m trying to say, is this is the first person you’ve ever liked that you actually think has faults. The first one, apart from the straights, that hasn’t tumbled into your bed at the wink of an eye.”

 

A beat passed before Lena spoke in an uncertain voice.

 

“What are you trying to say?” She asked.

 

He sighed again.

 

“I don’t know, Lee. It just seems like the situation is a lot more complicated than you want it to be.”

 

She rolled her eyes.

 

“Gee, thanks for the advice.”

 

“Look, do you want me to speak as a boss or as your brother?” He said frankly.

 

Lena paused.

 

“Boss.”

 

“You went there to do a job. It’s just a town, same as any other you’ve been to before. The same people, the same problems and you have the same goal. Don’t let yourself get distracted by one woman. Don’t let your values and goals be corrupted. What you’re doing is going to create jobs and support the people we already have working for us. Look after your people first.”

 

The thoughts mulled in her head, but they felt unsavoury.

 

“And as my brother?”

 

He laughed.

 

“Find this woman, fuck her silly and then ride off into the sunset on the back of her horse. You can get married under the stars and I can finally live my dream of playing the banjo at your wedding.”

 

Lena smiled, crying happy tears now.

 

“You’re ridiculous, you know that?”

 

Lex sniffed.

 

“I know, but I love you. Lena, I just want you to be happy,” he said emotionally.

 

Her thoughts drifted once more, becoming depressed.

 

“It’s doomed to fail, Lex. If anything ever happens, it’s doomed to fail. No escaping it.”

 

“Well, if you don’t try you’ll never know. Do you want to look back on your life when you’re eighty, wondering what sex with a strapping, flannel wearing farmer could have been like? Or do you want to walk away knowing you just had the best experience of your life?”

 

She was so tempted.

 

“It’s too complicated.”

 

Lena could practically hear him shrugging.

 

“Life’s complicated, Lee. Doesn’t mean you don’t live it.”

 

Lena closed her eyes and thanked the universe for bringing her brother into her life.

 

“I’m sorry, Lex. About this morning. I should’ve been more understanding. Lillian is.. well she’s your real mother. And I know you love her, even though you’ve had my back this whole time. If she really is on her last legs, how can I begrudge you getting some closure.”

 

He took a shuddering breath.

 

“It might be good for you to get some closure too, sis.”

 

She mumbled.

 

“Somehow I have the feeling even the bible thumpers down here would be more inclined to embrace my sexuality than she ever will.”

 

“Just think about it, Lena.”

 

She nodded, before whispering into the phone.

 

“I love you, Lex.”

 

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, what did we think? If any of you peeps are having a tough time of it with the fam I hope this helped... or dug up a lot of crap, either one. 
> 
> If you couldn't tell, the decline of the farming industry worldwide is very important to me. One could argue, that the neglect people felt has had a direct impact on the politics of a few countries. I urge you to do your reading! Nothing is more important than the food we eat and it's very important to know where it comes from and the people who grow it. 
> 
> On that note, please let me know what you think. I ADORE COMMENTS!!! I do try to answer all of them too, so keep an eye out. I'm happy to answer any questions you have if I can :)


	7. Drunken Delights Make For Sour Mornings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER. THERE IS A MENTION OF SUICIDE. I PUT AN ASTRIX OVER THAT SECTION IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ.
> 
> Hello friends and readers :) I've been really ecstatic to read some of the comments this fic has been getting and I'm glad you guys are down with serious subjects I've been writing along with the general SuperCorp. I do like writing about serious issues if I can (and I'm an angstaholic).
> 
> I've recently decided to become more serious, so I'm getting involved with Tumblr to get some more traction of these fics. Feel free to follow me there (link is in the bio and it's the same name).
> 
> You can cringe at my mediocre sketches, suggest stories you'd like to see me tackle or just yell at me (you can do that here too if you like).
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter and have a great day :D
> 
> Songs for this chapter;
> 
> True Blue - John Williamson 
> 
> Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash
> 
> Ramona - Night Beds

It wasn’t the first time in her life that Kara had slept in the back of her truck. 

 

Given the heat of the days in Argo and the stuffiness of her ramshackle family home sometimes it was preferable to lie down on the tray with a single pillow and a blanket, Oscar snoring by her side while she stared up at the stars.

 

The night sky reminded her of the old and ratty comics she used to sneak from her cousin’s room when she was little. Stories about superheroes, aliens and grand battles that always ended with an epic kiss from the damsel in distress. Even as an adult Kara would wonder what it would be like if she lived in another universe and had an alternate life.

 

One where she was a hero sent from the sky with fantastic abilities. Where she could actually _help_ people. And no matter how many horrible things happened, she still managed to save the day somehow. What it would be like to live a double life? Keeping the real you hid from everyone and presenting a facade to the rest of the world that was still true, but blurry at the edges. 

 

Not everyone was a superhero, but people did hold secrets close to their hearts like armour. Alex had been torturing herself for years since she realised she was gay. Her father had wallowed in self-pity for so long, with only the damage the world did to him as company. 

 

And Lena….

 

Well, maybe she should stop trying to understand the layers of a woman she hardly knew. 

 

Kara would laugh sometimes at how people would say it was a relief ‘to live their truth’. The blonde had been nothing but herself from the moment she was born and all it had ever seemed to do was cause her pain.

 

But maybe that too was a lie. Kara wondered if the guards she had put into place were a front, but really they were just a part of her. 

 

They didn’t seem to last long anyway, she had always worn her heart on her sleeve.

 

Her mother used to tell her that she was the kindest of them all in the family, the strongest too. It had been nice, at the time. And had it filled a hole in her chest after her mother died and Clark left. 

 

She clung to the words, but they were flimsy armour against the reality of her life. The truth was, even in this never-ending drought, Kara felt like she was drowning. The stress of her life was slowly wearing away at the very foundation of who she was. T

 

The irony being, that the foundation was also built on the stress of her life.

 

Maybe there _was_ something wrong with her. Normal people should _want_ to flee and disappear past the horizon, just like Clark had. They shouldn’t _want_ to stay.

 

But despite how much it hurt it was still the only world she had ever known.

 

She could look at her father, the shadow of the man he once was, and still see him tall and proud. Ready to sling her over his shoulders after a hard days work.

 

Kara could see him teaching her how to ride. 

 

He was still the same man who taught her everything about running a farm.

 

But he wasn’t that man at all.

 

The contradiction was making her head explode.

 

That whole day with Lena had made her happier than she could remember being in a long while was shameful. It was easy to forget the reality of who the brunette, and what her job was, just by having her in the truck next to her.

 

When she had taken Lena to her special place the blonde had felt… raw. She wasn’t exactly sure why she had done it. 

 

The one place she had never told anyone about, she had shown on an impulse to a woman she didn’t really know. All because of some misguided notion that it would influence the other woman into changing her mind.

 

Stupid.

 

Kara was the one who was influenced by her… feelings… towards the other woman. Seeing something in her eyes that was most likely a trick of the light. Morphing her from cold and cruel, into something real and tangible.

 

And maybe just as vulnerable as Kara herself.

 

The way she had smiled made Kara melt quicker than an ice-cream cone in the midday sun.

 

Kara had regretted it the second that she had yelled at Lena to leave. She didn’t want to say those hurtful things. 

 

In that moment she wasn’t just angry at Lena, she was angry at everything. 

 

The land she loved and hated, the fucking drought that never seemed to end. 

 

The fact that Alex would never be accepted by the fucking town if she came out…that fact that it would be the same for _her_.

 

Most of all,she was angry at her alcoholic father who had humiliated her so soundly again and again in her life. Kara didn’t need people feeling sorry for her because of her him, but she didn’t want them to paint her with the same brush either.

 

Her relationship with her father was hard and complicated, something she was completely unable to have a rational conversation with him about. Instead, all the resentment and warped love she had for him just built up inside higher and higher leaving Kara to wait for the day she knew it would blow the lid completely off her sanity.

 

But that had nothing to do with anyone else. She didn’t want it to have anything to do with anyone else. He was her cancer to deal with and the last thing she needed was him infecting everything else in her life.

 

Fledgling, stupid _feelings_ especially. 

 

And yet, her father was still a topic people brought up around. When they wanted to hurt her, or in whispers to each other. But all her friends knew that the topic was completely off limits, beyond to vague ‘how is he?’.”

 

And then came Lena, the new source of anxiety in her life that came with a whole host of different tangled _feelings._

 

And they had just collided, sending Kara into a frenzied panic. Everyone else already knew about her dad, but she didn’t want Lena to see it.

 

Because she didn’t want the woman to the one thing the blonde feared above all else that she would become.

 

After Lena had driven off, Kara had stormed into the house, ready to have the worst screaming fit of life. Then the fight in her was halted by the sight of her father collapsed on the floor.

 

Blackout drunk… _again_. 

 

The anger hadn’t dissipated, but she had slammed the usual lid back on it and left it to simmer as pulled him to his feet and dragged him to his bedroom. 

 

Then when he woke up, hours later he had shouted for her attention. Complaining about the arm he had landed on when he fell, Kara hadn’t even bothered to answer. Instead just bitterly thinking that if he was capable enough to drag himself out of bed for whisky then he was able to look after his own injuries. 

 

His _loyal_ daughter had already done her part by making sure he didn’t choke on his own vomit.

 

All she had left was an urge to escape. So she threw a blanket and a pillow in the back of her truck, along with a bottle of bourbon she had hidden under a loose floorboard, and drove herself into the middle of a field with only her dog for company.

 

And it made her large thoughts seem slower looking up at the vast sky.

 

Didn’t make them hurt any less.

 

* * *

 

************* POTENTIAL TRIGGER AHEAD************

 

Kara woke up sweating, flies buzzing around her face, and with a pounding headache. The sun burned down on her and she cursed the fact that the one day she had slept in had made her face as red as a tomato.

 

The blonde farmer ignored her chores that day, letting her only work-in-progress fence sit still while she retreated into the cottage and took advantage of the single and only air-conditioner this property had ever seen.

 

She knew her father wouldn’t come looking for her here. He had viewed the whole refurbishment as stupid in the first place. It didn’t usually affect her, but today it just added to her depressed thoughts. Kara chugged the remaining bourbon as fast as she could, but it did little to elevate her mood and only made her more angry with the world.

 

What was the point even trying to stay afloat anymore? She should just let this place fall to shit and sell it for the price LuthorCorp offered. Nothing was going right anyway, every step she took forward, she also took five hundred back.

 

What was _she_ in the grand scheme of life? Lena represented a billion dollar company and was worth just as much. Once the acquisition was made, it would be one tiny tally in the thousand page ledger that LuthorCorp kept. 

 

It could be sold again, torn apart or lit on fire and no one would ever care but her shitty and run down home. 

 

Seven and a half billion people on this earth… and she was just a useless, high school dropout with not a single achievement to her name. Nothing to show for her pathetic excuse of a life except for a burnt pile of dirt that wasn’t even really hers.

 

Her blood, sweat and tears and it was still in her father’s name.

 

At that, Kara hurled the empty bottle into the fireplace she had painstakingly built, out of some stupidly optimistic idea that this place would _ever_ get cold. It shattered into a thousand pieces, leaving Kara feeling even stupider and emptier than before. 

 

The blonde hunched over herself, trying to shake away the despair that had come crashing down on her head. This was what had led to every wrong thing in her family. Caving to despair. It was what led Clark to leave, fearing it would infect him. It was what had twisted her father into what he was today.

 

And now, it was eating at her the same way it had her mother.

 

Kara felt a wave of shame at herself at even comparing her feelings to what had led Alura to her death. Her mother had always been the real strong one, not Kara. 

 

Treating Clark like her own son the instant his parents had died, pushing her husband to keep moving, to keep going.

 

She had been the one to tell Kara she could be anything she wanted to be.

 

Alura was the house that kept them all safe and strong and everyone had thought she was invincible until she wasn’t.

 

It had been horrifying and numbing at the time, impossible to imagine and comprehend. But hindsight and adulthood had pieced the jigsaw together in Kara’s mind. All the times she had found her mother sitting at the dining room table, staring mindlessly into the distance. Or the one day a week Alura had designated as her’s, spending the whole time in bed sleeping. 

 

Or the time one of the old farmers in the backcountry had shot himself and Alura had become very quiet.

 

No one knew where she had gotten the pills, but once she took them all she never woke up.

 

The funeral had been small and quiet, the circumstances kept hidden from everyone else. Clark cried the entire time, but both Kara and her father never said a word. They just watched in blank shock as the coffin was lowered into the ground. Afterwards, her dad had warned both Clark and her harshly that they were never to talk about it again. 

 

Never again now that it was buried, never to mention her name.

 

Kara didn’t think about her much anymore, the number of new problems she constantly had to deal with burying the old open wounds. 

 

But sometimes… in her moments of despair, she wished she could hear her mother’s voice at least once more. 

 

Singing to her as she stroked back Kara’s hair.

 

***** ALL CLEAR *******

* * *

 

The blonde farmer wasn’t quite sure how she found herself stumbling into the Danvers’ kitchen in the middle of the night. She vaguely recalled plodding across a paddock, falling down many times, before she finally stumbled through the door while laughing. 

 

She rummaged around in the liquor cabinet above the fridge, not caring if she made enough noise to wake the county up, and had barely managed to uncork a bottle when light flooded the kitchen. 

 

Kara turned her red eyes and looked up at hastily dressed Alex staring at her in disbelief, Maggie by her side with a raised firearm that she lowered once she realised who Kara was.

 

The blonde felt like laughing hysterically at the sight.

 

“You going to shoot me, Sheriff?” She slurred out, taking a swig of the bottle. 

 

“You’d be doing me a favour.”

 

Kara stumbled until her back was pressed against the fridge, staring at the wall mindlessly. She heard another set of footsteps and turned her head to see that Eliza had joined the pair of women, clad in a thin nightgown.

 

“Girls stink,” the blonde blurted out while frowning. “They fuck around with your head, all smiles and laughter and green eyes… and then they turn out to be ‘big hot shots’ trying to steal your land.”

 

Alex walked towards her carefully, her expression soft, while she reached for the bottle Kara, was holding.

 

“But you’re a girl, Kara,” she murmured when the farmer pulled it out of her reach.

 

The farmer snorted before her eyes darkened.

 

“And I am the stupidest girl of all…. Dumb and stupid, chasing impossible dreams that will never… EVER… happen….”

 

Her eyes burned.

 

“I’m the silliest girl of all…”

 

Depression muddled her thought as a tear slipped down her cheek.

 

“Why does everything have to be about feelings with me… Why do I feel everything? I don’t want to feel anymore.”

 

“Well if you finish that bottle, you’re sure to succeed,” she heard a voice mumble and Kara vaguely pinned it as Maggie’s.

 

Kara looked at the short woman, who was watching her calmly and felt a pang of annoyance.

 

“I’m not good enough for her anyway,” she mumbled out. “Stupid, emotional mess of a girl.”

 

Alex sighed when Kara stared down at her feet.

 

She frowned with confusion. 

 

She only had one shoe on and wondered where the other one went. 

 

“I seem to recall saying something pretty similar recently, and my favourite person in the world told me I was wrong,” the redhead offered.

 

The blonde rolled her head back sluggishly.

 

“Yeah… but you are sooo good, Alex… You’re so smart and clever… I never even graduated from high school because I was too _stupid_. Everything I touch becomes cursed and if you stay near me long enough, you will too.”

 

Kara felt a tear slip down her cheek.

 

“I was right to send her away… the whole thing would be too messy and I would fuck it up anyway. Nothing I _ever_ do ends well. I’d probably end up ruining her life as well as my own because I’m such a fucking idiot.”

 

The farmer’s eyes flickered up, locking onto her friends. 

 

Alex was watching her with quiet concern.

 

“No, Kara,” she said softly, reaching out to touch Kara’s shoulder "You’re not an idiot. You’re drunk and you’re talking nonsense. Why don’t you have a glass of water and you can sleep it off on the couch?”

 

She reached once again for the bottle, the blonde letting her pry it away from her fingers this time even while she shook her head violently at Alex’s words.

 

“I don’t want to be babied…” She muttered, eyeing Alex darkly.“Don’t pity me… I’m not staying here.”

 

The farmer pushed past her friend, make her stumbling way to the door once more when she was halted by a tight grip on the collar of her shirt.

 

“We’re not letting you flounce home in the dark with only one shoe Kara,” Maggie said in an exasperated voice.

 

The drunk woman rolled her eyes, before looking back over her shoulder at the shorter woman’s hand and then shifted her gaze to her redheaded friend.

 

“Why did you have to date a cop, Alex?” She questioned with a whine. “She’s such a buzzkill…. all she ever does is arrest me or lecture me… Mostly at the same time.”

 

Alex gave her girlfriend a small happy smile that sent a pang of loneliness deep into Kara’s soul.

 

“I think it was the dimples that did it for me,” she answered, before moving forward and guiding Kara in the direction of the couch. 

 

“Now come on, boozer. Let’s get you to bed.”

 

Kara sighed, happy to be walked along by steady hands that made the room spin less.

 

“You’re the best, Alex… You, Maggie and Eliza are the best people in the world….”

 

Her thoughts turned dark and she scowled.

 

“Not like _Lena._ ” 

 

Alex exchanged a glance with Maggie, before seating Kara on the lounge.

“Yeah….” she Alex answered, uncertainly. “Sounds like you had an argument with her after you left, huh?”

 

The blonde’s scattered thoughts swirled and turned, dancing like a troupe around a mirage of images all featuring Lena’s face of her laughing, smiling… and some lewder fantasies Kara couldn’t help but toy with ever since she had saved her from that bloody cow.

 

“It’d never work out….” She moaned, flopping back on the couch.

 

The two women stared down at her, and Kara could hear Eliza bustling about the kitchen.

 

“Do you like her, Kara?” Maggie asked suddenly.

 

The blonde scowled upside down at the shorter woman’s face.

 

“Of course not! How could I like a woman who’s ruining my life?” She spluttered out, indignant before her thoughts drifted once again. 

 

“Even if she does have _those_ heels…. and that _hair_ …. and those _eyes_ … and that _mouth_ …. I can’t like _that_ … Even if _sometimes_ I wonder if she tastes as delicious as she-“

 

Alex clamped her hands over her ears.

 

“Whoah, whoah… TMI!” she cried out with a wince. “I did _not_ need to hear that, I have zero interest in imagining my best friend in those scenarios.”

 

Kara only half listened, the rest of her brain drifting further into a daydream involving Lena’s legs.

 

“….I wonder if she likes strong women?”

 

Maggie grinned at her dreamy words.

 

“Trust me, K. She likes strong women.”

 

Alex scowled at her girlfriend.

 

“You aren’t helping, Maggie,” she said, tightly.

 

The sheriff shrugged, unapologetic.

 

“I’m just saying, I know the type.” 

 

The dark-haired woman looked down at Kara, even as her girlfriend fumed silently.

 

“What you want to do Kara, is literally sweep her off her feet,” the woman advised. “You do that, and she’ll wrapping those thighs around you in no time.”

 

Kara heard a glass drop and shatter in the kitchen and Alex gave her girlfriend an appalled look.

 

“Maggie!”

 

The woman shrugged again, giving the redhead a half grin.

 

“What? It worked for you!”

 

Eliza appeared at her daughter’s elbow, shoving a plastic cup full of water into Kara’s hands.

 

“Ok, now I _know_ I am officially too old to be hearing about all this,” the older woman said, colour high in her cheeks. 

 

“Good night, girls…” her eyes hardened when they landed on the Kara. “And we’ll be _talking_ in the morning.”

 

The young farmer crossed her arms and frowned up at the older woman.

 

“I don’t need you to mother me, Eliza,” she complained.

 

Uncharacteristically, the woman thwacked her lightly across her head with the back of her hand, making Kara squeak.

 

“Maybe not, but I’m going to do it anyway,” she snapped, before stalking off to her room.

 

The door slamming echoing down the hall.

 

Alex groaned and began to massage her forehead.

 

“Great, now you’ve done it.”

 

Maggie let out a low whistle and gave the blonde a proud look.

 

“Yeah, Kara. That’s pretty impressive. Managing to piss Eliza off is like trying to spot a Yeti in a snowstorm.”

 

The blonde’s thoughts drifted once again into a depressing territory and one single, deeply buried idea floated up.

 

_Good enough to annoy people… not to see that your own mother was falling apart._

 

“…well at least I achieved something in this life.”

 

Alex sighed at her friend’s words, before pushing Kara down so she was lying flat.

 

“Ok, bedtime is now.”

 

* * *

 

Kara’s hangover was worsening with every passing minute. Her morning had consisted of Eliza quietly glaring at her, before snapping over the stupidest thing and lecturing her on the dangers of drinking. It was made worse by Maggie’s observing looks and Alex’s, which were full of concern. 

 

After a greasy breakfast, that Kara felt like throwing up, Alex had driven her back to Solitude. 

 

The blonde farmer swore that she had hit every pothole on purpose and by the time she was finally stumbling up the porch, her head felt ready to split apart like an overripe melon.

 

Kara wanted nothing more than to stumble to her bed and fall asleep. When she spotted her father sitting at the table, clearly waiting for her to come home, she let out a loud groan.

 

“You’re up, I see,” she spat out, staggering to the sink. Her foot cut and scratched from whatever she had done the night before. She poured a glass of murky water, before turning to look at her disapproving father

 

“And you’re hungover,” the man said, criticism evident.

 

Kara felt her hackles rise at his hypocrisy.

 

“A state you are intimately familiar with,” she spat, turning around to glare at him.

 

His eyes were clear this morning, which was a rare sight these days, and he had actually taken a shower. Somehow, he had also managed to clumsily wrap his ‘sore’ arm, and the blonde felt satisfied in her choice to let him fend for himself yesterday.

 

“I’m still your father, Kara,” he chastised in a steadily. “I deserve some respect.”

 

The blonde could always tell when her father was sober. For one, he never yelled. Instead, speaking in the low, quiet voice she had been so familiar with as a child.

 

“Respect?” She questioned with a snort, running her eyes over his form. “I can see your hands shaking from here because you haven’t had a drink this morning. Should I be respecting your half day of sobriety?”

 

The man frowned at her.

 

“I’m trying, Kara,” he replied, a hint of a whine in his voice. “And we support each other in this family-“

 

Her fingers clenched.

 

“Like you’ve been supporting me? You can’t even remember what day it is,” she spat out, full of venom.

 

“Stop it,” he said firmly.

 

Once upon a time, that harsh tone would have halted her in her tracks.

 

Not anymore.

 

“I know… you only like the truth when it benefits you,” she said, stalking forward. “But when _I_ need you… when I need my father, you’re never there!”

 

Tears stung her eyes and her head was pounding, but she couldn’t stop the outrage pouring out of her mouth. Her father must have heard it too because he had the good sense to look partially ashamed of himself.

 

“I know I disappoint you, Kara. But you have to understand that I feel terrible all the time. I hate myself-“

 

“Like I don’t hate myself?” She cut across, her voice frayed with loud desperation that for once he actually _heard_ what she was trying to tell him.

 

“You never talk to me!” He said, frustrated.

 

Kara threw her hands up into the air in exasperation.

 

“Because whenever we ‘talk’! It’s always about you! _Every time…_ we talk about _you_. How you’re feeling, _your_ past. You don’t care about me or _my_ problems. You listen for half a minute, and then I get thirty on how you caught a fish when you were five with your brother. I can’t tell you _anything_ , because even when you bother to listen, you’re so drunk you don’t remember. You have no idea the pressure I’m under.”

 

Her voice cracked on the last word, and her eyes burned with the pressure of holding back her tears.

 

“You think I don’t know about pressure?” He responded glibly. “I lost my brother, my sister in law and my wife!”

 

At that, she slammed her hand down on the table between them, making the empty bottles on it shake.

 

“I lost them too, Dad,” she cried out, pointing to herself. “I lost mom too. And it wounded me more than you when Clark left because he abandoned me to look after you alone. How do you think that makes me feel?” 

 

A wave of sorrow and fear threatened to fill her heart and she sat down opposite him, energy draining.

 

“I’m trying to be positive and look forward, but I’m so angry all the time,” she confessed in a hoarse voice. “And everything in my life is just becoming more and more confusing right now. I’m trying to stop my entire world imploding.”

 

For once he didn’t reply straight away. Instead, he absorbed her words and frowned to himself.

 

“Is this about that woman the other day?” He questioned.

 

Kara felt heat grow in her cheeks, partially because of the way she had behaved and mostly because of her mess of feelings towards Lena.

 

“Oh, so that you remember? The way you embarrassed me?” She questioned, deflecting from the real issue.

 

Her dad watched her searchingly for half a minute, his eyes observant in a way they always were when he stopped drinking.

 

“Why do you care what other people think?” He questioned, half curious, half sad. “Why would you care what she thinks? Some stranger you don’t even know?”

 

That was the million dollar question, Kara thought to herself. She had no idea why she cared so damn much about Lena Luthor, outside of the fact she was trying to buy her land. Nothing about any of this made any sense at all.

 

“Because I… I’ve gotten to know her and…”

 

She trailed off and the man didn’t look like he believed her weak words.

 

“Be wary of snake oil salesman, Kara,” he said darkly. “They make lots of promises that they never deliver upon.”

 

The blonde felt a surge or protectiveness towards Lena, the sensible part of her brain giving her an incredulous look.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She snapped out. “You know nothing about her!”

 

The man cocked his head, eyeing her in such a way that Kara was reminded eerily of herself.

 

“I’m not blind, Kara,” he said flatly, but with an edge of fear. “She was very beautiful, even I clicked on that.”

 

Kara’s entire face turned red.

 

“What had that got to do with anything?” She squeaked out.

 

The man’s mouth opened and shut, clearly struggling with how to word something he was planning to say. After a pause, he closed his eyes and muttered it out.

 

“I know, Kara. I’ve known since you were five and that family stayed with for a month to help out around here. You and their young daughter were glued to each other. You liked her as much as that boyfriend you had in kindergarten.”

 

The blonde’s face paled, but of course, she remembered the little girl that she had been infatuated with. 

 

Kara shouldn’t care that her father knew, she shouldn’t.

 

And she _really_ shouldn’t care about his opinion…but she did.

 

“Are you ashamed of me?” She asked quietly, ready to dismiss his answer if he said yes, but still desperate for him not to.

 

Even after everything… he was the only parent she had left.

 

The man watched her carefully, his mouth pinching before he replied.

 

“I love you, Kara. That will never change,” he said slowly.

 

The blonde frowned.

 

“You didn’t answer my question.”

 

Her dad huffed, crossing his arms and stared down at his chest while he pondered whatever else he wanted to say. The silence between them had just bordered on uncomfortable when he finally spoke. 

 

“I’m not a modern man, Kara.”

 

The blonde bristled.

 

“What does that have to do with anything? I can love whoever I damn well please.” She spat out.

 

He gave her a strained and condescending smile.

 

“That’s a nice sentiment, but it doesn’t mean anything in the real world.”

 

Kara huffed, her back stiffening.

 

“What world, your world? The one where you’ve sat alone for years and never left? Ruminating on your own thoughts and looking for the answers to life at the bottom of a bottle?”

 

Her words didn’t seem to wound him as much as she had intended. Instead, he just turned his head and stared out the dirty window, across the bare paddock.

 

“I knew this boy,” he said so softly, Kara had to strain to hear. “In my class when I went to high school. He was very quiet, small and he always tried to hide in the corner of any room. I remember the football players used to gang up on him, bully him and call him a faggot. Nobody did anything to stop it, not even the teachers.” 

 

His eyes grew haunted.

 

“Then, one day, they found him on the side of the road, his face torn to shreds. Someone had dragged him behind a car until he died. It could have been anyone who did it. The boys on the team, the racist principal… hell, it could have been his own father out of shame.”

 

Kara’s mind turned with sorrow for the unnamed teen, dead for decades. But her eyes were riveted at the horror clearly evident in her father’s face.

 

“Those same boys are now men in this town,” he continued. “If you think their attitudes have changed, you're deluding yourself.”

 

The blonde knew it was true. The entire town had practically branded anyone who voted for Hilary Clinton in the last election with an emblazoned red ‘A’, and when same-sex marriage had been legalised… well, it hadn’t been pretty. Things around here were shitty for anyone who was different, but Kara would be damned if she couldn’t walk down the street in her own hometown holding a girl’s hand if she wanted to. Plus it would be harder for any bastards to get away with so much as a slur these days, when Argo’s own Sheriff was as gay as Dolly Parton sung country. 

 

“I don’t care about _their_ attitudes, Dad,” she said honestly. “I want to know yours.”

 

He bit his lip, gnawing at it for a full minute while his face went through a mix of emotions. 

 

“I don’t know what I did to make you like this-“

 

“Nobody is ‘made’ bisexual, Dad,” she cut over him.

 

He winced at the word but continued. 

 

“But I’d love you just the same whether you shack up with a man, a woman or a tree.”

 

He had clearly struggled with this and as desperate as she was not to care about his opinion, it still felt so safe to be accepted by her own father.

 

Kara’s shoulders relaxed and her headache seemed to ease.

 

“Thank you,” she breathed out.

 

He nodded, but his mouth tightened.

 

“But my point still stands, don’t trust this woman Kara,” he said lowly, his voice full of warning.

 

Her emotions were at war with herself, but she still nodded her head.

 

“I’ll be careful.”

 

Her dad smiled at that before his face took on an innocent expression that was all too familiar.

 

In an all too disappointing way.

 

“Could you do me a favour?”

 

Her stomach sunk lower.

 

“Sure.”

 

His eyes flickered to the side of her face.

 

“Could you go into town and get me a bottle of something?”

 

There wasn’t the slightest hint of shame in his voice and Kara’s mind went completely blank.

 

“….are you serious right now?”

 

His fingers began to twitch.

 

“I know, you don’t like to-“

 

She cut him off, her eyes growing wide as she stood to her feet towering over him and quivering with rage.

 

“ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?”

 

“Kara-“

 

She snarled at him like a wild animal, and he gave her an alarmed look.

 

“Oh, I get it,” she said sarcastically, eyeing the empty bottles in a new light. “The real reason your fucking sober is because you ran out! You’ve just sat here, humouring me so that you can guilt me into doing something for you!" 

 

Kara brushed the bottles away with her arm, letting them fall and shatter against the floor with a bang.

 

“I’ve had it,” she said flatly, making her way to the door and pulling on the shoe she had left behind last night with a wince. “I’m not going to feel obligated to contribute to your alcoholism anymore, just because you become a decent parent for five minutes! If you want it, get it yourself.”

 

The blonde yanked the door open, gesturing for Oscar to stay t on the porch and stalked towards her truck.

 

Kara heard the flywire door open with a creak behind her.

 

“Where are you going!” Her father called.

 

“I’m going to The Bar to get drunk,” she shouted back, ripping open her car door with almost superhuman strength and turning to sneer at him. “That’s right, it’s my fucking turn to GET DRUNK! But don’t worry, I won’t count on you to pick me up given that you’re about as responsible as a child!”

 

Kara didn’t bother waiting for a reply, instead just turning her truck on and roaring away while she began to sob.

 

* * *

 

The blonde farmer slumped over the bar, her eyes glazed and fuzzy as she grinned at the curly haired man behind it.

 

“Winn, get me another round won’t you?”

 

The man hesitated. She knew he still felt guilty for the other day when he put his foot in it, but it was warring with something inside of himself.

 

“Kara… I think you’ve had enough.”

 

The woman groaned, gesturing widely around the bar with a smile and knocking over her glass.

 

“Come on, Winn…. it’s a school night and I’m feeling melancholic,” she said with an exaggerated pout.

 

He gave her a strained smile but didn’t move to pour.

 

“Alcohol won’t solve your problems, Kara.”

 

She grumbled at the words.

 

“Seems to work for my father alright,” she muttered.

 

Winn’s face turned sad and he reached out to touch her arm.

 

“Kara-“

 

She yanked it away, scowling at him.

 

“You work in a bar… it’s your job to get me a drink as a paying customer!” 

 

His face tightened.

 

“But you’re not, Kara. I can’t give you any more to drink even if I wanted to. You’ve reached your credit limit here. The tab alone from last month-“

 

Her face flushed, but she wasn’t given a chance to respond. 

 

“Don’t worry about it,” a familiar slick voice replied, sliding in next to her. “I’ll get the next round for this lovely lady and myself if you please.”

 

Morgan Edge smiled down at her with murky eyes that had always reminded her of a shark. Kara stared at him blankly, her sluggish brain trying to compute what was going on.

 

“Kara-“ Winn tried to say, eyeing Edge with concern.

 

The older man’s eyes snapped harshly to his.

 

“I placed an order, boy… Hop to it,” he said dismissively, before turning a leer on Kara once more.

 

The bartender frowned but nodded reluctantly.

 

“Yes, sir,” he muttered, before moving to pour the drinks.

 

The middle-aged man leant against the wood, staring down at Kara expectantly. 

 

She traced the rim of her empty glass, before muttering a reply to his steady look. 

 

“Thanks.”

 

His smirk widened at her words, clearly satisfied at her deference.

 

“No need,” he crooned out. "When I see a lady in distress, I can’t help but come to the rescue. It’s in my nature as a gentleman.”

 

Not for the first time, Kara wondered how men actually managed to get away with the oozing misogyny Morgan was spouting. 

 

The answer always was, that those same men were in charge of _everything_.

 

“Funny,” she drawled back, eyeing the man up and down. "You’ve never given me the impression that you’re a gentleman, Edge.”

 

His smile remained locked, but the blonde could see the flicker of anger in his eyes at her words. Edge quashed it quickly though when their drinks arrived, Kara reaching out eagerly and taking a large gulp.

 

The older man watched her actions with a predatory glint in his eye.

 

“You look downcast, Kara,” he said, in a terrible attempt at sympathy. “What brings you here today to drink away your sorrows?”

 

The blonde farmer snorted.

 

“Why do you care? You’ve never given a damn about me before.”

 

He shrugged noncommittally. 

 

“You’ve never piqued my interest before. You like to come off all strong and tough, but I like a woman who isn’t afraid to show her… softer side.”

 

Kara felt like throwing up.

 

“Because that’s not creepy at all….”

 

He reached out to push back a stray strand of hair from her forehead and she recoiled fast.

 

“I like that you’re fiery too,” he said gushed. “It adds flavour to a woman.”

 

She really didn’t need that mental picture in her mind.

 

“What do you want, Edge?”

 

The man’s face dropped into a blank expression and he shrugged.

 

“Honestly, just to talk. You seem upset.”

 

Kara frowned down at her drink.

 

“My whole life is upsetting,” she muttered out. "What’s new?”

 

The man hummed, before giving her another smarmy smile.

 

“How about I keep buying us rounds and you tell me all about it?”

 

She really should say no… but he was offering to buy.

 

And she really felt like forgetting.

 

“Deal.”

 

The glint became victorious.

 

* * *

 

Kara couldn’t remember the rest of the afternoon, even as it drifted into the night. All she knew was that the more she drank, the funnier Edge became. That was a good feeling, but a fuzzy part of her brain was slowly becoming uncomfortable with how close he was sitting and the way he would whisper his words in her ear, tongue flickering like a snake.

 

It was getting late when his hand suddenly found it’s way to her knee and began to inch up her thigh.

 

“What do you say, girl,” he crooned. “You’ve been practically sitting in my lap all night… why don’t we make things _official_?”

 

Kara shivered in disgust at his words and she gripped his hand tightly to remove it from it’s inching pace up her leg. She stood wobbly to her feet instead and gave him a strained smile.

 

“Nah… you’re right there cowboy… I think I’m gonna head home…”

 

He shuffled forward in his seat, giving her a displeased look.

 

“Aww, you’re in no state to drive… how about I take you? My truck’s out back.”

 

Kara’s mouth curled in disgust and she took a step away from the table.  


 

“I know what you want to do in your truck… I’d rather walk.”

 

She began to step away but was left wobbling when he suddenly stood to his feet and trapped her arm tightly enough to leave bruises.

 

“Listen here, you bitch,” he spat, all the charm vanishing from his voice. “I’ve been buying rounds all night and you’ve been drinking them as fast as your daddy.” 

 

He eyed her figure up and down.

 

“Now, we’ve all heard the rumours how you… got _around_ in high school. I want to see if they’re still true. Or is your daddy’s the only one giving you _workouts_ these days?”

 

Kara flushed with rage and embarrassment at his words and for the first time in her life, all the fight left her body. The past few days had been horrible and she just wanted to cry in her truck, alone and far away.

 

A cold and calm voice sounded out from behind her, full of such raw confidence that Kara literally felt her own rise a degree.

 

“Mr Edge,” Lena said flatly, her words dripping with disdain. “I think you’ve had a bit too much to drink.”

 

The blonde turned her head, eyes taking in the sight of the brunette in a tank top that left very little to Kara’s imagination, a pair of pyjama pants and her hair loose around her shoulders. 

 

The farmer’s immediate thought was that she wanted to run her fingers through it.

 

Edge dropped her arm, the blood finally flowing back to it, and took a step away from Kara and towards the out of towner.

 

“Please, call me Morgan,” he said, voice full of oil.

 

Lena’s eyes never so much as glanced in Kara’s direction, but the blonde couldn’t help but feel protected all the same.

 

“…Morgan,” the businesswoman replied. “You have all the charisma of a Michael Douglass movie from the nineties.”

 

The man’s mouth tightened at the insult.

 

“Oh, you flatter me.”

 

Lena took a tight breath.

 

“Morgan, I admire you as a businessman,” she delivered.

 

He let out a cruel laugh.

 

“Let me get you a drink before that compliment leaves a bad taste in your mouth.”

 

The brunette ignored his words.

 

“The management of your farm is one of the reasons Luther Corp took interest in this area to start with.”

 

The man took another step into Lena’s personal space, and Kara watched as the brunette’s eyes flashed.

 

“You know you can be as salty as you want, Lena but people around here don’t trust you,” the man hiss out, his eyes slowly dragging across her figure and lingering on her chest. “They trust me. You might want to stick on my good side.”

 

He adjusted his belt with one hand and Lena’s face morphed into fully disgusted.

 

“You’re despicable,” she said flatly, before reaching for a nearby half empty glass of beer left by a patron, and threw it in his face.

 

Kara’s jaw dropped and Winn snorted behind the bar.

 

Morgan took a step back and spluttered, his eyes blazing with fury.

 

“Oh Lena, you are going to regret that,” he hissed out, his teeth clenching. “Now you’ve got _all_ my attention.”

 

The brunette seemed totally unaffected by his clear threat.

 

“Edge, like any woman who’s had all of your attention… I couldn’t care less,” she quipped back, brushing past him and finally turning her gaze to Kara. 

 

Winn stepped out from behind the bar quickly, walking toward them all with a satisfied grin.

 

“Are you finished with him, Ms Luthor?” the man asked.

 

Lena’s eyes ran over Kara’s form worriedly and nodded.

 

“He’s all yours.”

 

Winn made to grab Morgan’s arm, but the man pushed him away and reached out to grip Lena’s shoulder tightly. 

 

She stared down at the offending hand so hotly, he recoiled as if he had been burned.

 

“What do you think _you’re_ going to do?” He squeaked out.

 

Lena snarled.

 

“Don’t touch a woman again without her permission, Edge,” the brunette spat, stepping into the man’s space and glaring up at his face. 

 

“I see you,” she said slowly. “And now you’ve got all of _my_ attention." 

 

The man looked terrified until his eyes glanced to Kara’s face and his lips curled.

 

“I see how it is,” he said with loathing. “You want her for yourself. Figured you’d get a taste for a local filly, even if she is _definitely_ broken in.”

 

Lena moved as fast as lightning and as smoothly as water, grabbing his arm, twisting it behind his body in one motion and slamming his face down on the table.

 

“You’re not going to fold on this deal Luthor!” He shouted out, furious, while she held him locked in place. “Make all the threats you want. I know about the iffy financials… or do you not read the paper?”

 

The green-eyed woman leaned over his body until he could see her out of the corner of his eye.

 

“Let me be very clear, Edge,” she answered slowly. “I have the power to destroy you with a single snap of my fingers. Regardless of what a paper might print. Now would be a great time for you to be very, very quiet.” 

 

She twisted his arm until he whimpered.

 

“Touch. A. Woman. Again. Without. Her. Permission. And. I. Will. Destroy. You. Are we clear?”

 

The man didn’t have a chance to respond except with a nod. He cried of pain once she let him go, fleeing The Bar quickly while her eyes followed.

 

Both Winn and Kara stood stock still, watching with amazement as Lena dusted her hands off and turned to face them.

 

“That was some sweet ass moves… how did you do that?” Winn asked, voice filled with awe.

 

Lena shrugged as if it was no big deal.

 

“Self defence, karate, judo… I like to keep fit and people like to target a Luthor.” 

 

Her eyes turned to Kara, accusing and angry.

 

“The real question is, what the hell were you doing? You’re drunk off your arse!”

 

Kara’s awe and fantasising mind, replaying the sight of Lena’s shoulders tightening, snapped back to reality at the brunette’s words. 

 

Instantly, she grew annoyed.

 

“I’m fine,” Kara muttered out. “And I could have handled him…”

 

Lena snorted disbelieving, raising the blonde’s ire.

 

“Oh, yeah… Big, tough Kara needs to prove she’s as strong as every man around…how could I forget?”

 

The blonde’s frown darkened, thinking of her father and then of Edge.

 

“Hey! I’m no man… take that back!”

 

Lena’s scowl matched hers.

 

“Tonight, you had the brains of one.”

 

The blonde looked at the other woman, aghast.

 

“He touched me!” She cried out.

 

Lena shook her head.

 

“I’m not talking about that, dip shit. I’m talking about you going to drive when you can’t even walk in a straight line! Do you have a death wish or something? Or is your urge to prove how incredible you are, completely overtaken your senses?”

 

Kara should have felt highly insulted, but her intoxicated brain stumbled and halted on one of the words that Lena had uttered.

 

Her mind did a goofy little skip and her anger melted away.

 

“…you think I’m incredible?”

 

Lena groaned, holding out her hand.

 

“Give me your keys.”

 

Kara snorted.

 

“I can’t just _give_ you my keys…”

 

Lena’s pursed her lips.

 

“I’m not going to steal your truck,” she said caustically.

 

Kara smiled, eyeing the other woman with amusement.

 

“I didn’t mean thaaaaaatt…. they’re in my truck.”

 

“You left your keys in your truck?”

 

The blonde shrugged.

 

“Everyone leaves their keys in their truck…” she said as an explanation.

 

“What if someone _does_ steal it?”

 

Kara laughed, her head lolling as the final drink finally hit her.

 

“Well, It won’t go far… everyone knows everyone and Magggiiieeeee would be on the casssseeee.”

 

She took a step forward, stumbled and almost hit the floor before Lena and Winn caught her 

 

“What am I going to do with you?” The brunette muttered in her ear.

 

“I could drive her home?” Winn offered.

 

Kara began to hum to herself, half an ear listening to the conversation between the pair.

 

“Don’t you live in town?”

 

“Yeah…”

 

Lena sighed.

 

“Can she sleep in the other room here?”

 

The man shrugged.

 

“We’re using it for storage. We don’t get many visitors in Argo.”

 

The brunette let out a frustrated huff.

 

“That I knew…. Come on, drunky,” she said, gaining Kara’s full attention. “I guess you’re bunking with me.”

 

Kara pouted at the other woman, her head still resting on Lena's shoulder.

 

“Noooooo…. I don’t like you…. You’re mean.”

 

“And right now,” Lena said dryly. “I don’t like you much either… now come on.”

 

The pair of them stumbled up the staircase relatively unscathed, save for a banged shin and a foot stepped on. By the time Lena got the blonde to her room, Kara felt drained and collapsed back on the single bed.

 

“Don’t use this against me…” she muttered.

 

The brunette paused.

 

“I’m not a monster Kara,” Lena said quietly.

 

The blonde tilted her head, trying to discern the other woman’s expression, but her face was hidden behind a layer of hair. The farmer struggled to sit up and stand, startling the brunette. 

 

Lena watched, blinking.

 

The farmer felt as sudden and strong urge to try something and leaned in for a kiss. But before her lips could make contact, Lena pushed her backwards firmly. Kara pinwheeled for a second, before collapsing back on the bed in her original position, staring up at the ceiling.

 

“You’re drunk Kara,” Lena muttered out.

 

The blonde hummed, her mind drifting slightly.

 

“You’re fucking beautiful, you know that?” She said suddenly.

 

“Thanks,” the green-eyed woman muttered out, clearly unimpressed by Kara’s inspired compliment.

 

The farmer hummed again.

 

“You’re ex, was an idiot.”

 

She heard Lena take a sharp breath.

 

“Actually, she was pretty damn smart. Took me for all I’m worth.”

 

Kara frowned.

 

“That bitch… what happened?”

 

Lena let out another sigh, before sitting down next to Kara on the bed.

 

The blonde could only see her back as she replied.  


“I was dumb and in love…. I told her she didn’t have to sign to a prenup, even when my brother insisted and called me an idiot. Turns out, he was right. She put on a very good show for the conservative asshole of a judge and he ruled heavily in her favour. Apparently, I was a ‘predatory lesbian who took advantage of her’. That, hurt more than the divorce.”

 

“Why?” Kara questioned.

 

She watched as Lena’s shoulders shrugged.

 

“Because it made me doubt our entire relationship,” the other woman said softly.

 

The farmer frowned, struggling to sit up so she could nudge Lena’s shoulder with her own.

 

“No wonder you want my farm…”

 

“I’m sorry?”

 

Kara huffed.

 

“You need the money…. but you should know, money doesn’t _really_ make it rain.”

 

The brunette looked away, whispering under her breath.  


 

“I don’t want it to rain.”

 

The blue-eyed woman didn’t understand the full meaning of her words and fell back on the bed once more.

 

“You like the sun? I like the sun… sometimes…” she said sleepily.

 

The other woman sighed.

 

“Go to sleep, Kara.” 

 

The blonde shook her head.

 

“But I don’t want to…. I want to look at you, with your pretty eyes.”

 

“Kara-“

 

The blonde reached out to touch the other woman’s hair, gently playing with it.

 

“They’re the exact colour of grass, you know that? I’d almost forgotten what it looked like when this land was alive and growing… until I looked into your eyes.”

 

She saw Lena’s ball stiffen.

 

”What about me?” Kara asked. “What do you like about me?”

 

Lena twisted so that she could look down at the blonde with unreadable eyes.

 

“Kara, you’re intoxicated. Now is definitely not the time for this conversation.”

 

The blonde pouted.

 

“When will be time for it?”

 

Lena hesitated. 

 

“I don’t know.”

 

A silence stretched while Kara traced the lines of the other woman’s face with her eyes.

 

“I really want to kiss you right now,” she blurted out.

 

Lena’s mouth pinched tight.

 

“Please don’t.”

 

The blonde nodded her acceptance.

 

“Ok… we snuggle instead,” she offered alternatively.

 

Lena groaned.

 

“Kara, it’s hot and I’m tired. I was just going to sleep on the floor-“

 

“No!” The farmer exclaimed, horrified at the thought. “You can’t sleep on the floor! I’ll sleep on the floor.”

 

She moved to do so, but Lena pushed her back down gently.

 

“No, you’re going to sleep on the bed.”

 

The blonde’s drunk mind struggled to find a solution.

 

“… why don’t we both sleep on the floor?”

 

“This conversation is becoming wildly ridiculous,” Lena replied dryly.

 

Kara huffed.

 

“Well it wouldn’t be if you just-“

 

She didn’t get to finish when Lena’s cell suddenly rung, the blonde dived for it and answered before the protesting brunette could.

 

“Hellooooooo?” She half shouted.

 

There was a pause on the other end of the line

 

“Is this the Krusty Krab?” A deep man’s voice questioned with humour.

 

Kara laughed and smiled widely.

 

“No, this is Patrick!”

 

The man paused for a beat, before laughing himself.

 

“Is this the Krusty Krab?”

 

The blonde cackled, keeping Lena’s prying hands at bay.

 

“No, this is PATRICK!”

 

Lena managed to push past Kara’s, yanking the phone away and giving the blonde an infuriated look.

 

“Lex, I’m so sorry,” she mumbled into the phone.

 

The farmer could hear the muffled voice of the man as the brunette’s eyes flickered to her’s.

 

“That was… Kara,” she said reluctantly.

 

There was a pause before a booming laughter echoed down the line and Lena flushed bright red.

 

“You’re a shit big brother, you know that?” She yelled at her phone, before hanging up. 

 

Immediately, it buzzed with a series of texts that made the flush grown up the back of Lena’s neck.

 

“That was your brother!” Kara said happily. “He sounds nice…. You should tell him that you love him, you shouldn’t yell at him.”

 

Lena snorted.

 

“That’s how we show love for each other… we yell…. really loudly.”

 

The blonde’s eyes began to flutter closed.

 

“Hmm… that’s nice….”

 

Lena let out a breath.

 

“Go to sleep, Kara,” she said softly once more.

 

The blonde patted the mattress.

 

“Only if you… sleep here too… the floor is wonky,” the farmer said with a yawn.

 

Kara could hear Lena hesitating, before she finally gave in and crawled next to Kara, laying with her back pressed to the blonde’s front.

 

“Fine, I’ll sleep in the bed, will that make you happy?” She muttered.

 

The farmer nuzzled her nose into Lena’s sweet smelling hair.

 

“Your hair is really nice….”

 

Lena’s breath caught.

 

“Good night, Kara,” she whispered out

 

The blonde circled her arms around the other woman, pulling her close.

 

“Night, Lee,” she whispered back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did we think? Bit of a monster at 9000ish words, but I hope you liked :D 
> 
> Let me know in the comments below! I love to read and respond :)


	8. Just Dirt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, folks :) Happy Holidays to all that celebrate! I know this chapter is a little late, but in my defence, I have been very busy. It's summer where I am and my parents have me working my butt off on the family farm to get things in order before I go back to school. They've now decided I'm to volunteer about instead of presents.
> 
> I'm starting to regret agreeing to it...
> 
> Nevertheless, this chapter is a big one so no complaining!
> 
> Songs for this chapter;
> 
> Hide Me Babe - Garret Hedlund 
> 
> Country Strong - Gwyneth Paltrow
> 
> Girl Crush - Little Big Town  
> Hope you enjoy :)

Lena felt like she was dying.

 

She didn’t like to admit it, but back in her college days there may have been a month were she had devoured her fair share of romance novels. Castles and forbidden loves, were often her go to. But nothing quite captured her imagination like a good, old-fashioned western. 

 

Waking up in the love of your life’s arm to the sound of birds singing and cotton sheets and the smell of fresh air. 

 

But the romance books never tell you that waking up in a woman’s arms can be hell on earth. Particularly when the temperature _was_ hell on earth. And Lena hated, hated, hated the fucking temperature of this town. And the only sound was a wonky fan and snoring in her ear. She was half convinced the wetness on the back of her neck, wasn’t from sweat even though Kara had her in a bearhug, but was drool from the other woman’s mouth.

 

That was the other thing, she felt like she was suffocating under the weight of a tanned arm, while Kara’s hair was falling over her cheek and sticking to her skin. 

 

Living the dream here.

 

Still, she wasn’t exactly sure what to do in this situation. It was more awkward than a one night stand, for God’s sake. Kara had been completely plastered last night, while a creep was basically assaulting her. While she was still annoyed with the blonde, how exactly was she supposed to leave the clear disaster of a woman to either drive home, drunk off her ass, or sleep in her truck? 

 

Someone had to look after the idiot because she clearly wasn’t looking after herself if the alcohol smell on her breath and the filthy clothes were anything to go by.

 

Another thing the books never tell you about country romances. Not only did you wake up in a pool of your own sweat, but your bed partner's as well.

 

A bed partner that you may or may not be sexually attracted to. Even though the attraction was dropping with every snort and snore. It wasn’t like they had even slept together, not that they _ever_ should sleep together.

 

Lena frowned, staring at the bubbled wallpaper opposite her. Why on earth had her idiotic brother gotten all this nonsense shoved into her head about hooking up with cowgirls, without falling in love?

 

When nobody was supposed to be attracted or sleeping or falling in love with anyone. 

 

It was all too bloody confusing.

 

Between her mother turning up in National City and near dead apparently, Lena still recovering from a divorce and bleeding alimony. Then there was Kara, who clearly had a whole mess of personal issues that she was dealing, or not dealing, with. 

 

A deal that she was supposed to finalise. 

 

And then, to top it off, there had clearly been a leak in the company and whoever they were had sold their story to the papers. 

 

Her brooding thoughts, still with Kara’s musky breath on the back of her neck, were interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing. Lena struggled to reach out for it, still smothered half under the weight of Kara’s body when she decided she no longer gave a shit about tolerating this nonsense. Lena all but shoved off the farmer’s arm, actually wishing viciously that the smelly woman would fall off the other side and hit her head. All that Kara did was let out a heavy groan and a snort, rolling onto her back and continuing to sleep with her mouth gaping.

 

Lena watched her, forgetting momentarily about her ringing phone. She stared down at the woman, who looked like she had rolled in a mixture of dirt and tequila, smelling like it too, and couldn’t help but feel fondness. Her phone rang again, and she shook her head before grabbing it, standing and exiting the room as quietly as she could. It was only once the door creaked closed behind her that she answered.

 

“Hi, Lex,” she said softly, wincing when the floor creaked beneath her feet.

 

Her brother laughed the instant he heard her tone, Lena having to pull the phone away from her ear at the loud sound. 

 

“Did you sleep with her?” He all but demanded to know.

 

The brunette felt a pang of annoyance. 

 

“Jesus Christ, Lex,” she muttered out. “She was drunk off her arse, what do you think?” 

 

Lex had the audacity to scoff.

 

“Well, I don’t know, do I?” He replied. “Maybe you were drinking as well, one thing led to another and bam kablam bang.” 

 

Lena’s nose wrinkled in disgust at her brother’s terminology.

 

“I suppose it’s for the best, it has been a long time since you’ve had a woman in your bed. You might have forgotten what to do.”

 

She scowled at his teasing and wished that teleportation had been invented so she could smack him over the head. Lex had always been over the top, but never was he as brazen then when he knew she wasn’t currently within throwing distance.

 

“Do you think normal siblings have such intimate conversations about their sex lives?” Lena hissed out.

 

“Little sister,” he teased in the exact tone of voice Lex knew she hated. “I don’t think anybody on the planet would ever classify either of us as normal. Disregarding the privileged upbringing, the clear trauma inflicted on us by our parents, and with our ;off the charts' intellect, we also just happen to have been born with the worst of afflictions.”

 

“Dashing good looks?” Lena quipped back.

 

“Well that too,” he grumbled. “But I was actually talking about the insanity. The Luthor curse, the evil plague on our house and home…. In another life, I’m half convinced I would be a megalomaniac with an addiction to creating mayhem. Maybe I’d be the arch nemesis of a superhero?”

 

Lena snorted at his dreamy tone, struggling to imagine her brother as a cold egomaniac CEO who was someone’s arch nemesis. Lex always had liked comic books though.

 

“As opposed to the video game addicted, heavy drinking, vice riddled man that you are?” Lena laughed.

 

“Shut up,” he replied dryly. “My point still stands. We’ve been given a heavy burden, little sis.”

 

Lena let out a breath, turning back to face her bedroom door and frowning.

 

Things were getting far too complicated, far too fast.

 

“Don’t I know it.”

 

He didn’t respond for a minute, but Lena knew her brother well enough to know that he was brooding over something.

 

“Did you read it?” Lex asked seriously.

 

Her mind flashed to the headlines that had been plastered all over the financial journals yesterday. 

 

“Yeah, I managed to get internet yesterday,” she muttered darkly. “How did they find out?”

 

Lex sighed.

 

“I don’t know, we must have a leak,” he said in a despondent tone.

 

The brunette frowned, annoyed that she was stuck in the middle of nowhere and not at her brother’s side, helping to deal with this mess. Lex was a fantastic CEO, but he had shortcomings when it came to being hard on his staff. He liked to believe that if he looked after his employees, they would look after him in turn.

 

Lena wasn’t as naive. 

 

“You need to launch an investigation.”

 

He huffed.

 

“Lena-“

 

She cut him off before he could start.

 

“No Lex, this isn’t funny. This isn’t something you can laugh about, then eat a bowl of fruit loops with whisky instead of milk. You need to find out the leak and cut it off. The last thing we need is the _full_ financial statements of LuthorCorp to going public. We’re hanging by a thread as it is.”

 

A small, fraying thread that threatened to break any day now.

 

“You need to close this deal,” he said firmly. “Before anyone investigates further into THAT as well.”

 

Lena’s mind flashed to the report that LuthorCorp had buried ten years ago, the very thing that had started all of this deal to begin with. 

 

Their golden goose out of their financial mess. 

 

“I’ll get it done, Lex. Have I ever let you down before?”

 

Lex let out a heavy breath.

 

“Never,” he said softly, the edge of worry dropping from his voice.

 

Lena felt her own nerves soften.

 

"Then trust me now,” she whispered out.

 

Lex let out a tired breath. 

 

“I do, but do you really think you’re going to change This woman’s mind?” He asked. “The sale is inevitable, but we need it done fast. You said your farmer is the rallying point of resistance in the area. All you need to do is pull that pin and things will tumble. Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall.” 

 

Lena’s mouth twisted. The idea of using Kara that way was repugnant to her. If it had been anyone else… 

 

Well, the point was that it wasn’t anyone else.

 

She had to go and get fond during the biggest deal of her life.

 

“And he had a big fall, I know. But this isn’t a fairy tale and she isn’t the only one,” she muttered out before her resolve tightened. “But if I can convince her to go quietly, then she might be able to sway the others.”

 

Though there was a fat chance of that ever happening. Kara wasn’t likely to walk away if Lena wrote her a big check.

 

She was probably more likely to punch her in the face.

 

Lex let out a laugh.

 

“Then you best give her the best orgasm of her life,” he brother replied.

 

She groaned.

 

“Goodbye, Lex “

 

Lena pressed the disconnect button so violently, she half expected her finger to crack the screen. 

 

Nothing could ever just be simple in her life, there always had to be some other disaster or complication around the corner waiting to bowl her over into the sea and drown her. And this time, was the worst of all. If she couldn’t do this job, if this was the one time she failed, then everything her brother and she had worked for would be over.

 

And for what? Because she had the complete stupidity to be attracted to an emotionally damaged female farmer, with eyes like the sky and tanned skin that spoke of a lifetime of hard, outside work.

 

God... she really was the most useless lesbian on planet earth.

 

But one disaster to deal with at a time. Lena had succeeded last night in making sure that Kara hadn’t drowned in her own vomit. She had a headache from the crappy night's sleep she had gotten, and right now she just had to make sure that the farmer could stumble her way to her truck safely.

 

Lena opened the door slowly once more, her eyebrow arching when she saw that Kara had finally woken up and sat hunched on the bed, head in her hands while she groaned. The second the blonde heard her enter the room, she lifted her head slightly, pushing her sweaty and matted hair out of her face and peered up at Lena with bloodshot eyes. 

 

“Oh god,” she groaned, voice croaked with dehydration. “I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.”

 

The brunette felt no sympathy, crossing her arms as she leaned against the door 

 

“You look like it too.”

 

Kara let out another groan, before stretching out her back and wincing at the small light coming in through the window. The farmer sat still for a minute, looking around the room and down at her dirty clothes, her face paling when she spotted Lena's underwear that the brunette had casually tossed on top of her luggage when she changed for bed the night before.

 

Before Kara woke her up with her racket.

 

The farmer’s eyes darted away from the garment, a quick blush now growing in her cheeks. 

 

Lena could help but feel amused. 

 

“I hate to ask,” Kara said quietly and obviously embarrassed. 

 

“But since I’m apparently in your bed,” she said, looking up at Lena with a sheepish expression. “We didn’t do… anything last night, did we?”

 

Lena arched an eyebrow.

 

“It may surprise you to know, Kara,” she replied dryly. “But I’m not in the habit of sleeping with women clearly not in control of their own faculties.”

 

Kara blanched and hastened to reply.

 

“I didn’t… I didn’t mean like that!” “

 

The blonde cupped her head in her hands with another moan when Lena’s stare didn’t abate.

 

“I just… can’t really remember what happened last night,” she muttered out.

 

The brunette felt a strong flash of outrage.

 

“After the worst sleep of my entire life, enduring being half smothered to death, you don’t remember anything?” She hissed out.

 

Kara gave her a terrified look.

 

“Yeah, but I….” 

 

The blonde’s eyes widened suddenly.

 

“Oh my god. Did I tell you I wanted to kiss you last night?” Kara squeaked out.

 

At that, Lena averted her eyes and tried to suppress all the feelings she had when Kara had tried last night. Squashing down all the sweet things she had said when she was clearly too drunk to mean them.

 

Well, clearly too drunk to be taken seriously anyway.

 

Besides, the farmer didn’t remember any of it, so what was the point of bringing it up? Lena couldn’t deny though, that even when Kara was a total mess, the way she looked at her made her feel like….

 

She _violently_ squashed it.

 

“There it is,” she muttered out. “Remembering things now, are we?”

 

An awkward silence grew between them, Kara fidgeting on the bed and frowning as she was clearly trying to recall details about the night before.

 

“How did I get here?” She confusedly asked.

 

Lena hesitated, remembering another unpleasant detail herself from yesterday. The thing with Edge had made Lena’s temper snap, something that didn’t happen very often. Usually, her anger was like ice. Cold and hard, with a bucket of standoffishness. Everybody always knew when Lena didn’t want to talk to them because they felt her chill coming a mile away.

 

It annoyed her that possible business relations with the man had been soured, but not doing anything when anybody was being assaulted was a far worse crime. And when it was, Lena just saw red. 

 

Still, maybe it was better if Kara didn’t recall the incident at all.

 

But she deserved to know the truth.

 

“I was trying to get to sleep last night, but there was quite a loud racket in the bar,” Lena began “After about two hours of listening to cackling, my temper had reached its limit. When I walked down there-“

 

Kara cut her off.

 

“Shit,” she swore. "Did you kick Edge’s ass last night? Won’t that fuck up your deal?” 

 

Her voice sounded frantic, and Lena was instantly surprised.

 

Pleasantly.

 

“So you do recall something,” she reasoned.” I can handle one stubborn sexist, Kara. I’ve done it all my life. Besides, I wouldn’t think you’d care about my deal going through. Isn’t it your mission in life to stop it from happening?”

 

Kara blinked up at her owlishly, before her mouth twisted and she looked around the room once more. 

 

“I…. How did I get _here_?”

 

Lena shrugged.

 

“I have no idea. I assume you drove.”

 

The blonde shook her head and gestured around the room.

 

“No, I meant… how did I get… here?”

 

Lena gnawed at her lip before she responded.

 

“Ah, well after the incident with Edge, I correctly assessed that you were barely capable of walking. Considering this is the only bed in this excuse for accommodation, I didn’t have much choice. Someone had to make sure you didn’t kill yourself and everyone else on the road,” Lena eyeing her sternly said.

 

Kara looked shocked and angry with herself, a wave of regret also crossing her face. 

 

“Fuck!” She swore violently. “Tell me I didn’t try to drive home last night?”

 

The brunette shrugged.

 

“Well, you seemed ready to.”

 

Kara shook her head, her face becoming clearer.

 

“I was probably just going to sleep in my truck,” she muttered, clearly trying to convince herself more than Lena.

 

“Well gee,” the other woman said with an eye roll. “Thanks for making sure I didn’t drown in my own vomit, Lena.”

 

Kara’s face pinched and she crossed her arms staunchly.

 

“Come on, I would’ve slept it off fine.”

 

Lena let out a scoff.

 

“Oh? Do you feel fine?”

 

The blonde’s face tightened before her shoulders slumped in defeat and her arms fell by her side.

 

“Not particularly.”

 

Lena shook her head, before leaning over her luggage and producing one of the water bottles she had packed, throwing it at Kara’s head. Given the hangover she must have, the brunette was surprised she caught it.

 

“Good,” Lena watched as the blonde took a satisfying drink. “After the torture you put me through last night you deserve it. Do you think I liked having a stinking, dirty farmer half crushing me into an already lumpy mattress, in the height of summer no less?”

 

Kara finished the bottle with a satisfied gasp.

 

“Doesn’t sound very appealing, I’ll admit,” she said, wiping the back of her hand against her lips to dry them.

 

Lena tried to ignore the stray drop running down Kara’s chin, throat and chest and underneath her shirt.

 

“Well then,” she said, trying to suppress her feelings once more. “Get your ass in the shower then get downstairs to have some breakfast. You’ll need something to soak up all that alcohol in your system.”

 

Kara stood with a groan, her knees popping loud enough to make Lena wince in sympathy.

 

“You don’t have to-“

 

The brunette cut her off, giving her a tight smile.

 

“I’m not doing anything except being a responsible adult. You’re probably still drunk, and if I don’t keep an eye on you who the hell knows what trouble you’ll get into.”

 

Lena rummaged for some toiletries that she all but shoved into Kara’s hands.

 

“I don’t need you to babysit me, Lena.”

 

The brunette’s eye arched at Kara’s indignant tone.

 

“Fine, then give me Alex’s number so she can do it,” she replied resolutely. “Or maybe I’ll take you around to Sam’s. I’m sure all of your friends will be absolutely delighted at the state you're in.”

 

The farmer frowned, a crinkle forming in between her eyebrows.

 

“I’m not-“

 

Lena cut her off, stepping into her space and staring up at Kara’s face.

 

“The way I see it, you have two options,” she purred out, noting with satisfaction that Kara’s mouth gapped slightly. “Deal with me all day or your friends, who will no doubt try to pry you and all your issues open.”

 

Kara watched her, eyes darkening slightly before she let out a cough and stepped back herself.

 

“And you aren’t going to do that?”

 

The brunette shrugged.

 

“Hey, if you want to drown your feelings, who am I to judge? I just want to make sure you don’t kill yourself doing it.”

 

If anyone understood the need to drink it was Lena.

 

Kara’s face became tortured.

 

“Why? After the way I treated you the last time we talked-“

 

Lena cut her off.

 

“Nope.”

 

There was a pause.

 

“Nope?”

 

“We aren’t talking about it,” Lena said sharply, putting a lid on the subject. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

 

The farmer looked stricken.

 

“I just wanted to say how sorry-“

 

Lena shook her head and cut her off again.

 

“Kara, shut up,” she said caustically. “If I want to talk about it, I’ll be sure to bring it up. Just have a shower and get cleaned up.”

 

The blonde didn’t seem happy, but she looked down at her dirty and dusty clothes. 

 

“I don’t have anything to wear,” she muttered.

 

Lena had a thought and began to smile wickedly.

 

“I have something for you.”

 

Kara looked up warily, eyeing the other woman’s vicious grin.

 

“We’re not exactly the same size….”

 

The brunette’s smile widened even more.

 

“I have something.”

 

* * *

 

Kara looked around nervously, tugging at the hem of her shirt and frowning when one of the breakfast regulars at the bar let out a laugh at the site of her. The whole morning she had picked at her food, ever since Winn had snorted when he noticed what she was wearing while he had taken their order.

 

Lena, on the other hand, was completely non-plussed with Kara’s discomfort. Happily digging into the packet oatmeal Winn had bought especially, for the first time since she had arrived in Argo.

 

Seeing Kara wearing her red satin pyjamas was enough revenge for the even, shittier than normal, nights sleep the farmer had given her.

 

“I feel like the biggest idiot on the planet wearing this,” the blonde muttered, poking her fried egg with a fork. “I’m pretty sure these cost more than the profit I’ve made in the last five years.”

 

Lena took a sip of her black coffee, lip curling at the instant brand flavour.

 

“Just be grateful you don’t smell like a sewer any more,” she responded cheerfully, giddy for some reason as she eyed Kara’s uncomfortable figure. “When was the last time you changed your clothes?”

 

The farmer hunched over slightly.

 

“I don’t recall,” she muttered honestly.

 

Lena’s eyes widened in surprise but she took another delicate sip from her mug.

 

“Aha… and how many days have you been drinking?”

 

Kara’s fork dropped to the plate with a clatter, and she held her head in her hands.

 

“…a few,” she muttered towards the bar, sounding ashamed.

 

The brunette tapped her fingernail against the side of her mug and set it down gently.

 

“Ever since…?”

 

Kara nodded at her soft question.

 

“Yeah,” she breathed out.

 

Lena hesitated, unsure how to respond to the new and slightly troubling information. Eventually, she opted for humour.

 

“Wow, I’m pretty sure you feel more guilty for yelling at me once than my ex did for divorcing me. You soft-hearted idiot,” she laughed.

 

Her attempt to lighten the conversation failed, the second Kara looked up from her hands with red-rimmed eyes and stared at her despondently.

 

“You ever feel like your whole world is hanging by a thread?” She began hoarsely. “And there is just so much pressure on you to keep everything together. And everything and everyone wants something different from you, you just want to make sure nobody else’s life gets blown to shit, but nothing you ever do is enough?" 

 

Lena knew exactly what that felt like.

 

“Because the second your attention drifts to one person, someone else needs your help and feels neglected?” Kara continued, waving her hand around while her voice took on an edge of anger. “And in the meantime, you’ve got this massive albatross of shit hanging around your neck. Along with a bucket of regrets that would make a veteran cry.”

 

Kara stopped her rant, taking a deep breath.

 

“Do you ever feel like that?” She asked finally, in a quieter voice.

 

Lena let out a huff and cocked her eyebrow at the other woman.

 

“No,” she drawled with a smirk and a wink that made Kara’s cheeks flush. "My life has been a dream.”

 

The blonde let out a mirthless laugh.

 

“Ha… did anyone ever tell you that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit?”

 

Lena shrugged.

 

“I never claimed to be smart.”

 

The blonde farmer scoffed at that, giving Lena an incredulous look.

 

“Yeah, right. You have more degrees than I had drinks last night!”

 

Lena’s thoughts darkened, her thoughts turning to her ex-wife and how easily she had fallen into that trap.

 

Believing that someone could actually love _her_ of all things.

 

“Just because someone is academically smart,” she said broodily, knocking back the last of her coffee. “It doesn’t mean they’re _actually_ smart.”

 

Kara nodded, her own eyes lost in thought.

 

“You may have a point there…. Maxwell Lord has a college degree from Harvard.”

 

Lena spluttered.

 

“In what?” She cried. “Being an asshole?”

 

The blonde let out a laugh, her mood improving enough to start eating her breakfast properly.  


 

“Probably,” she said muffled, spitting out bits of toast while Lena gave her a disgusted look.

 

“I’ll admit,” the brunette replied, flicking a crumb off her shirt and back in the other woman’s direction. “Your verbal repartee isn’t exactly at its best today.”

 

Kara swallowed her inordinately large mouthful and took a gulp of her orange juice.

 

“Oh I’m sorry, your majesty,” she said once she’d finished it. “That my head feels like it’s going to split open.”

 

Lena rolled her eyes.

 

“Quit complaining,” she snapped. “You weren’t the one being drooled on this morning.”

 

The farmer choked on her next mouthful and blushed a deep red.

 

“….is there anything I embarrassing I didn’t do last night?” She questioned.

 

Lena’s annoyance drifted away at the farmer’s despondent face, and a hint of amusement flared in her chest.

 

“Well, you did steal my phone and re-enact a scene from SpongeBob with my brother.”

 

Kara’s face flashed in remembrance.

 

“Fuck.”

 

Lena bit her lip and her eyes sparkled with mischief.  


 

“That and the striptease.”

 

The blonde woman gave her a horrified look.

 

“I am so sor… wait a minute, I still had my clothes on!” She shouted out while Lena threw her head back and laughed.

 

“Well,” she cackled. “A girl can dream.”

 

Kara watched her for a minute, her eyes riveted on Lena’s face.

 

“Can you? About me?” She blurted out, before looking away embarrassed. “I mean… never mind.”

 

The brunette felt her heart do a little skip in her chest.

 

“I think I kind of like this bashful Kara,” she murmured out. “I should have saved you from distress the second we met just to see it.”

 

The blonde fidgeted once more on her wobbly stool.

 

“If you’d kindly recall, I was the one who helped you with a lift the first night you arrived.”

 

“And then we had a screaming match.”

 

Kara fingernail dug a line into the wood of the bar and Lena’s eyes were drawn to the blonde’s tanned hand, noticing the short nails and the many small scars, no doubt obtained from a lifetime of hard labour.

 

“That’s how we show love for each other…” Kara replied primly. “We yell…. really loudly.”

 

Lena arched her eyebrow at her own words being repeated back to her.

 

“Oh, now you’re in love with me?” She teased, delighted to see Kara once again flush from her neck to the roots of her hair.

 

“I didn’t…. I’m going to shut up now,” she muttered, turning back to her meal.

 

Lena laughed. 

 

“Probably wise.”

 

They sat quietly for a few minutes, Lena watching observantly to make sure Kara ate everything she had ordered for her. Noting that a healthy colour had returned to the other woman’s cheeks, her eyes looking clearer too.  


 

“Hey, are you ok after what happened with Edge last night?” The brunette said softly, Kara turning. “I hope I stopped him when he grabbed your arm but… You know it wasn’t your fault, right?”

 

Kara’s face wrinkled with disgust.

 

“Well, I was the idiot who let him buy me rounds.”

 

Lena frowned and placed her hand gently on the farmer’s forearm, Kara looking down at it with surprise.

 

“Kara, I need you to believe me,” she said slowly, holding the other woman’s eyes with her steady gaze. “It wasn’t your fault. Nobody should manhandle you like that without permission, ok?”

 

The blonde looked embarrassed.

 

“Yeah, yeah.”

 

The dark-haired woman tapped her fingers lightly against the blonde’s skin.

 

“I’m not joking,” she repeated seriously.

 

Kara let out a sigh and placed her other hand over Lena’s and gave it a pat.

 

“Lena, I’m fine. I get it, ok?” She said with a tired smile. “Thank you for kicking his butt though. He certainly deserved it.”

 

The brunette could detect the sting of wounded pride in the blonde’s voice and she frowned.

 

“Didn’t your father ever teach you how to defend yourself?”

 

Kara’s face grew haunted and she stared down at her lap in silence.

 

Lena watched her for a few minutes with a cocked head, before she spoke quietly. 

 

“Your father not the teaching sort?”

 

The farmer’s eyes were shimmering with unshed tears when she looked up at Lena.

 

“No… he’s more the, ‘drink yourself to death and forget your daughter needs you’ sort.”

 

The words fell from the blonde’s lips in an exhausted whisper, and it struck Lena just how bone tired Kara must be.

 

She let out a soft breath, before responding equally as quiet. Well aware that the ears in the Bar were fine-tuned, even in their old age.

 

“Odd that children are expected to give so much to their parents else they be called selfish, but _they_ can give so little and still find themselves as dedicated parents.”

 

Kara gave her a surprised look, Lena returning it with a haunted smile of her own.

 

“I know what it’s like.”

 

The blonde watched her carefully for a minute until the tension dropped from her shoulders and she suddenly looked ten years younger.

 

“I suppose you do.”

 

A pregnant pause grew between them and a small part of Lena panicked. What exactly was she supposed to do now? Honestly, she had no idea what it was about Kara that made her want to share her own burden and shoulder some of the blonde's too. Fortunately, the choice was made for her when the door to the Bar slammed open and a furious looking Cat Grant stalked in. Looking around the place disdainfully, her eyes narrowed when she spotted Kara and began to stalk towards the younger woman.

 

Lena heard the young farmer gulp.

 

“Kiera, where the hell have you been?” The older woman demanded, eyes looking the younger farmer up and down. “And what the hell are you wearing... Are those satin pyjamas?”

 

Kara flushed with embarrassment and the other patrons, who were of course eavesdropping, chuckled at her expense. 

 

“Can you please stop shouting?” The young woman groaned.

 

That seemed to be the entirely wrong thing to say, raising Cat’s ire to the next level as her voice became a hiss.

 

“I’ll stop shouting when the best stock worker I have, gets her arse to my farm!”

 

Kara gave her an alarmed look.  


 

“I thought you didn’t need me until next week?”

 

Cat grunted in annoyance.

 

“I need you if an idiot ‘leaves’ a boundary gate open and all my cattle get mixed with the Daxam's!”

 

Kara let out a loud groan and she frowned with annoyance.

 

“Oh, fuck….”

 

The older woman nodded.

 

“Oh fuck is right, get your butt in the truck,” she continued, pointing to the exit. “Where we are going to have a little _conversation_ about you actually answering the satellite phone I gave you.”

 

Cat eyed Kara up and down once more, probing.

 

“And the fact that you look like a piano's been dropped on your head. Don’t bother to change out of your… pyjamas. I have appropriate clothes for you back at the house.”

 

Kara scrambled to her feet at the orders.

 

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

“And you better give one hundred per cent today,” the older woman issued briskly. “I don’t ever want to go searching for my worker again. Answer your phone next time.”

 

The younger blonde nodded.

 

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

Cat gave her a harsh glare.

 

“And never call me ma’am. People call me that and I-“

 

“Look around for my mother,” Kara cut her off. “I know Ms Grant.”

 

“Well if you know, why do you keep doing it?” Cat asked with an arched eyebrow.

 

“I-“

 

Cat raised a hand and stopped Kara’s response.

 

“Millennials…. not a single brain cell amongst the lot of you. You are the ultimate example of everything that’s wrong with parenting today. All that God awful self-esteem building, everyone is special, everyone gets a trophy and you all have opinions that you think deserve to be heard. And yet the truth is that you have to earn the right to have an opinion in the first place.” 

 

Even Lena, who had delivered her fair share of dressing downs, thought that was a bit harsh. But she barely had time to console Kara’s spluttering when Cat turned her vicious gaze to her instead.

 

“And what about you, Luthor?”

 

The brunette’s eyes widened.

 

“Me?”

 

“Is there another Luthor here?” Cat snapped. “Want to see a real muster up close?”

 

Lena looked back and forth between the older woman and Kara, perplexed by the sudden invitation and the reasons behind it. But even from her brief time her, Lena knew better than assume Cat would ever show the hand she was playing with.

 

“Well, I….”

 

She trailed off, and Cat tilted her head.

 

“Tell you what, I’ll give you half an hour after to try and talk me into this sale of yours _and_ I’ll throw in making Kara work in her singlet for free.”

 

Both Lena and Kara looked at each other, before looking away. Lena coughing and Kara blushing brightly.

 

“Ms Grant-“

 

Cat sighed.

 

“Stop talking, Kara,” she primly replied. “I can smell your breath from here.” 

 

Lena guffawed as the young farmer spluttered. 

 

“What about it, Luthor? My terms acceptable?” Cat asked again.

 

Lena opened her mouth, then closed again, her eyes turning to Kara. Truthfully, she had a lot she needed to do today. Some well placed phone calls she had to make, trying to stem the leak at the company as much as she could from what felt like a million miles away.

 

The blonde’s face pinched.

 

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to….”

 

Lena was torn.

 

“I said I’d keep an eye on you.”

 

“But-“

 

Cat interjected once more.

 

“Excuse me,” she said caustically. “But I do have a situation on my hands. I didn’t come, to hear a lovers quarrel.”

 

Kara’s eyes widened dramatically.

 

“We’re not-“

 

“Oh,” Cat said with an arched eyebrow, looking Kara up and down once more. “That’s why you’re wearing her pyjamas then?”

 

The other patrons started laughing at that, and Lena felt a pang of irritation at the new rumours that were going to spring up from this performance. It was ok for her, in the end, she didn’t really give a shit what people said.

 

But Kara lived here. 

 

“Let’s just go,” the aforementioned blonde muttered, hunching her shoulders and walking towards the door. 

 

It was only once she exited, that Lena’s eyes turned to look back at Cat who was still giving her a questioning glance, no doubt that had about fifty meanings.

 

Lena sighed, before picking up her keys and standing to her feet.

 

“I’ll drive my own car.”

 

* * *

  


After they had all arrived at the Grant Ranch, Lena, Cat and Kara met up and walked over to the back of the house were a host of people were waiting.

 

Rhea and her son along with two of their farm hands, sat on very expensive and immaculately groomed horses, looking down at the three of them.

 

Kara let out a defeated sigh from beside Lena at the sight.

 

“Jesus Christ, that'll be a mess to sort out,” she muttered.

 

Once they arrived in front of the horses, Lena standing half behind Kara and eyeing the animals warily, Mike and Rhea looked over them carefully.

 

The man let out a snort when he spotted Kara’s strange attire, but turned it into a cough when the blonde glared up at him, clearly daring him to say something. Rhea’s dark eyes however, lingered on Lena before turning to Cat. 

 

“What the hell is she doing here?” She demanded, waving in Kara’s direction.

 

“Working I hope,” Cat replied slowly as if she were speaking to an idiot. “Otherwise I’ll have to review my employment contracts.” 

 

She turned to face the younger blonde farmer.

 

“Kara, get changed and go get Chip and Blue from the stables. And tell those lazy idiots I pay to put their pants back on and get here. Make them set up the yards. And if my son comes out, which I know he will, tell him to get back inside a finish his coursework. I’ll be checking to see if he’s done when I come back.

 

Kara nodded briskly.

 

“Yes, Ms Grant.” 

 

The blonde began to jog in the direction of the stables, quite a sight with the searing sun reflecting off the silk clothes she was wearing. 

 

“I don’t want her to step a foot on my property!” Rhea shouted.

 

“Well, I don’t want my cattle on it either Daxam, but here we are,” Cat replied. "I presume you’ll want to use _your_ stockyards to draft them off?”

 

Rhea sniffed, disgruntled. 

 

“Well, they are better equipped.”

 

Cat rolled her eyes and waved the woman away in a shooing motion.

 

“Yeah, yeah.” 

 

The Daxam woman’s mouth tightened, her eyes lingering on Lena once more before she rode off in the direction of the boundary fence.

 

Cat seemed to relax minutely once she had disappeared from sight, and turned to look at Lena.

 

“Luthor, you want to ride with me or with Kara?”

 

Mike and the two Daxam farmhands looked at her curiously, but Lena was already unsettled enough at the idea of riding a horse at all, without the added headache of wrapping her arms around Kara’s waist.

 

She wondered how exactly she had gotten herself into this situation.

 

“You.”

 

Cat nodded and turned to face the three men on horseback.

 

“You two,” she said, pointing to the unnamed farmhands. “Start looking for stragglers and get them back to the main mob.” 

 

The pair nodded and immediately left to do as bid, clear respect for Cat’s instructions oozing off them.

 

“Mike,” Cat continued, turning to the last man. “You’re coming with Kara and I, to the back of the mob to push.”

 

He tipped his hat slightly.

 

“Yes, Ms Grant.”

 

The older woman clapped her hands together and rubbed them, brimming with energy.

 

“Right, let's pull our fingers out and get going. You ready, Luthor?”

 

Lena swallowed, trying to ease her anxiety over getting on a horse.

 

“Damn straight,” she replied weakly.

 

The sound of hooves behind her turned her head. Kara was riding upon an older looking patched horse, changed into work gear, and leading a younger brown horse behind her.

 

She handed the lead to Cat, the older woman mounting gracefully and leaving Lena with a mixed feeling of envy and terror.

 

Lena had forgotten how tall they were.

 

“Where’s Tweedledum and Tweedledee?”

 

“They’re coming,” Kara answered Cat. ‘But you know it takes them ten minutes to mount up.”

 

The older farmer nodded distractedly.

 

“Good.” 

 

Kara turned to look down at Lena then,  with an amused smile and reached into her large saddlebag to pull out a bundle of clothes and a pair of boots.

 

“Oh, by the way, you’ll need this.”

 

Kara handed her the clothes and shoes, before producing another hat seemingly from thin air and throwing it at the brunette’s face.

 

“Those should be your size.” 

 

Lena, arms full, narrowed her eyes at the other woman, convinced this was revenge for the pyjamas this morning.

 

“Seriously?” She asked,

 

Kara nodded, biting back a smirk.

 

“You got to look the part,” she said seriously, but with a hint of mischief in her eyes. “Keep you from burning up.”

 

Lena’s nose wrinkled as she looked down at the clothes.

 

Slightly dusty and stiff.

 

She looked back up at Kara.

 

“They’re dirty.”

 

“Oh, I’m sorry princess,” Cat cut in with a bark. “I didn’t realise you were paying for the five-star experience. Get your butt changed, or stay here. I don’t have time for this.”

 

Lena blinked up at her.

 

“Here?”

 

The older woman’s eyelid began to twitch.

 

“Thus far, you have been adrift in the sheltered harbour of my patience,” she said coldly, before turning to look at her blonde worker. “Keira, _you_ take her with you after she’s ready. Come on Daxam, let’s go.”  


 

Cat rode off with Mike, a cloud of dust behind them, leaving Kara and Lena alone.

 

The blonde smiled down at Lena. 

 

“Hop to it then. I’ll keep an eye out for the boys,” she said, before having the grace to turn her head.

 

A part of Lena wanted to say ‘fuck it’ to this whole thing. Playing cowboy was definitely not what she had signed up for when she took this job.

 

The brunette’s eyes traced Kara’s form and a pang of longing hit her low in her stomach.

 

Lena could have hit herself and her stupid feelings.

 

“Fine.”

 

She fell over three times trying to get the boots on, but Kara didn’t turn around or even laugh, her eyes scanning the horizon even as Lena swore bloody murder.

 

It was only once Lena had gathered her other clothes and flats, warily walking up to the seemingly placid horse, that Kara turned to look at her.

 

“Done?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Kara took the shirt and the shoes Lena was holding out, and all but stuffed them into her saddlebag. The brunette shot her a dirty look and felt pained on her expensive clothes behalf.

 

She wondered for half a second if Kara had thrown the silk pyjamas into a dung heap.

 

“Put your foot in the stirrup and jump up behind me,” Kara instructed, holding out her hand for Lena to grab.

 

The brunette didn’t take it, her nerves rising as she watched the horse’s ribcage rise and fall.

 

The last time she went riding, it had not ended well. Two broken ribs and a trip to the hospital.

 

“I….”

 

Kara’s forehead crinkled.

 

“It’s fine. Chip was my old horse, he won’t even blink.”

 

The brunette still didn’t feel certain.

 

“I….”

 

Kara watched her for a few more seconds before her face grew soft.

 

“Do you want me to get down and lift you up?” She asked gently, Lena feeling an instant sense of relief.

 

“…yes.”

 

The blonde dismounted smoothly, her boots hitting the ground and raising a small cloud of dust while Chip didn’t even blink at the action. She looked at Lena for permission, the brunette giving her a nod, before Kara grabbed her waist and picked her up with ease. High enough for Lena to swing herself over the flank of the horse.

 

The brunette sat still, heart pounding and her chest tight, a sense of relief crossing her when the horse didn’t move at the action.

 

“You ok?” Kara asked and Lena noticed for the first time that the blonde’s hand was resting assuredly on her thigh.

 

Lena nodded sharply and Kara mounted up herself, swinging in front of the brunette and gathering the reigns.

 

She turned her head to speak over her shoulder.

 

“Hold onto me, ok?” 

 

Even though it was scorchingly hot, Lena felt a shiver down her spine at Kara’s words.

 

She readjusted her large hat, unused to its weight, before answering. 

 

“Ok.”

 

Kara waited until Lena had wrapped her arms around her waist tightly before she eased the horse into a trot.

 

“Right, let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

The muster had been, to Lena’s untrained experience, exciting. After ten minutes of holding onto Kara tightly while they rode behind the relatively placid cows, pushing them up with calls to get moving, she had finally relaxed into the ride. Chip was a beautifully calm horse, far different from the flighty dressage beasts her mother used to make her ride when she was a child.

 

He may have been scruffy and old, but he got the job done and done well.

 

Lena was starting to get a sense of what Kara had been talking about. There was a certain sense of freedom in riding a horse in farmland, as if you were a rough and ready gunslinger. Free, wild and ready to take on the world. Sure, the work was probably mundane to Kara and all the other hands, but to Lena it felt liberating. There was something to be said about the quiet dignity of it all, the way the hands could read the mob and predict the actions they were going to take, where they were going to move next, before the cattle even knew.

 

When to back off and give them space, when to ride to the head and stop them from turning.

 

All the while she was working, Kara would explain what she was doing and why she was doing it to Lena in between her calls to the mob. It filled Lena with contentment, even when a cow was being difficult and stubborn, to see just how good Kara was at her job. How natural she was with the cattle and the horse she was riding. Occasionally, as she grew braver, Lena would ask the occasional question and Kara would reply with her usual humour. The brunette could hear in the other woman’s voice that she felt relaxed too. And happy in a way she had never sounded to Lena before.

 

She really did love it.

 

_And you’re going to take that all away from her?_

 

Lena frowned at the voice in her head, her thoughts becoming brooding.

 

She had things she loved as well. Things her heart was committed to. 

 

The company meant the world to her.

 

Still, the whole thing churned like acid in her stomach.

 

The rest of the muster had passed easily, the hands and Cat all managing to push the mob into the Daxam’s yard where they began sorting. The two hands and Cat began cornering off certain groups, while Kara began to sort as best she could in the thick dust that was rising underneath the pressed animals feet.

 

Rhea emerged from the house once they arrived, and walked towards Lena who was absentmindedly patting Chip while he drank from a trough, her eyes riveted on Kara’s form as she pushed through shoulder to shoulder with the cows.

 

“Lena,“ Rhea said, calling out to her.

 

The brunette felt her standby mask fall over her face as she turned to face the older woman, tilting her hat back to see her better.

 

“It’s _Ms Luthor_.”

 

The other woman disregarded her words, leaving a bitter taste in Lena’s mouth. 

 

“I had a conversation with Morgan this morning, he wanted to reassure you about how sorry he was about his behaviour last night,” she said with an obviously forced smile and shrug.  

 

“Men will be men.”

 

Lena felt a cold hand grip her heart at the words. 

 

There were few things she despised as much as women who enabled men’s abusive tendencies, just because they had something to gain from it.

 

“Yes.... boys will be boys and men will be men,” Lena replied harshly, looking back at Kara who was now separating certain cows through a gate and into another pen. “I just wish for the day when they behave like human beings, and take responsibility for their actions.”

 

The woman didn’t seem pleased with her, but Lena didn’t give a shit. She would never mince her words about this, not even for business.

 

“I hope this doesn’t affect our deal-“

 

Lena cut her off.

 

“This is neither the time nor the place for that discussion,” she bit out sharply.

 

Rhea watched her, eyes predatory and cold all of a sudden. Her eyes darted to Kara’s back as well.

 

“I can guess what you’re trying to do with the Zorel girl, Ms Luthor,” she spoke, voice laced with honey and poison. “You should know that she is never going to change her mind.”

 

Lena felt a cold rage growing in her chest as she turned to look at Rhea with icy eyes.

 

“For the sake of our _deal_ , I would advise you to stop speaking,” she said lowly, daring the other woman to say even one more word.

 

Rhea finally seemed to get the message, turning away silently and walking back towards the house.

 

At her retreat, Mike suddenly seemed to pop up magically beside Lena.

 

“Hey, Ms Luthor.”

 

Lena felt like throwing a shoe at the man.

 

“Mr Daxam,” she acknowledged.

 

The man gave her a charming smile, that did absolutely nothing to Lena.

 

“You gotta remember, it’s Mike.”

 

She had to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

 

“I prefer to keep things professional,” she said briskly, still looking at Kara in the yards.

 

Mike’s eyes darted back and forth between the two women, a knowing look growing in his eyes.

 

“Right….”

 

The brunette gave him a harsh glare.

 

“I don’t like your tone.”

 

He raised his hands in defence.

 

“Don’t worry, Ms Luthor. It’s all good,” he said with a smile, that did nothing to settle her ire. “I saw you talking to my mom.”

 

Lena shrugged, disinterested again.

 

“And?”

 

“Nothing,” he replied. “I just know she can get intense.”

 

Lena scoffed.

 

“I’ve dealt with worse.”

 

Mike looked her up and down, new respect growing in her eyes as his smile became more real and far less smarmy.

 

“I’m sure you have,” he replied before a silence settled between them.

 

The brunette quickly grew uncomfortable when the man made no move to leave. 

 

“So, why aren’t you working in the yards then?” She asked.

 

Mike let out a laugh.

 

“Kara and I don’t work well together drafting. We tend to get in each other's way, and she usually kicks me out on my arse. Honestly, if she could do it herself she would. I pity the poor soul who’s in charge of the gate.”

 

He nodded towards Kara, who was now telling off the Daxam hand in charge of said gate.

 

“She likes to be in control,” Lena answered. “I can respect that.”

 

The man snorted.

 

“Yeah, all that ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ shit,” he said dryly. “She’s always been like that. One of the reasons we broke up at the time. Well, that and I was a shithead.”

 

Lena eyed him beadily.

 

“Was?”

 

The man clutched at his heart.

 

“Ouch, low blow.” 

 

His face grew uncomfortable.

 

“Listen, I know I can be a bit of a prick, but I didn’t mean to be all up in your business the first time we met. I don’t want to come off as a completely obnoxious asshole. If I had known you were a…. you know.”

 

Lena felt a spike of humour grow in her chest.

 

“A lesbian?” 

 

The man flushed slightly.

 

“Yeah. I never would have-“

 

“I don’t think your particular charm skill set would work on any woman, Mike,” she replied dryly, cutting him off.

 

The man grinned at her, victorious.

 

“Hey, you called me Mike!”

 

Lena shrugged, smiling as she looked back at Kara who had managed to get some order going with the draft.

 

“Don’t sound too happy about it. I’ve spent too long here, I’m getting used to the boorish country ways.”

 

The man gave her an affronted look.

 

“Being friendly’s boorish?”

 

She laughed dryly.

 

“Well, it’s definitely not a city thing.”

 

The man joined her chuckling.

 

“True. When I was studying at NCU-“

 

“ _You_ went to college?” She interjected, shocked.

 

The man gave her a wry look.

 

“Don’t sound so shocked. I got a football scholarship. I was the star Quarterback at Argo High.”

 

Lena rolled her eyes.

 

“Of course you were.”

 

The man’s face turned pained.

 

“But I did my knee in, second year. So I didn’t finish and limped my way back here with my tail between my legs,” he said, subconsciously favouring one of his legs. 

 

“That’s when Kara and I got together. She’s got a thing about saving broken people,” he mused. “Total messiah complex that one.” 

 

Before Lena could answer, the man cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted to get Kara’s attention.

 

“Hey, you missed one!”

 

She flipped him off, before retuning to her work.

 

“Fuck off, Mike.”

 

The man chuckled good naturally, before giving Lena a wry grin.

 

“See? She’s still fond of me.”

 

Lena felt a pang of possessiveness, that didn’t bode well for her emotional squashing.

 

“Sure she is.”

 

The man tilted his head at her bitten words.

 

“Don’t worry, I won’t make a move on your girl.”

 

Lena narrowed her eyes at the man.

 

“She’s _not_ my girl.”

 

Mike watched her, unbelieving.

 

“Then it’d probably be good if you told her that,” he muttered out. “Whispers are already starting around here, and it’s not good for her. She gets enough crap as it is without people thinking she’s gay.”

 

Lena bristled.

 

“Well, if you homophobic pricks kept your noses out of other people’s business-”

 

The man cut her off.

 

“Ms Luthor, it may come as a shock, but you being here is everyone's business,” he replied dryly, before turning and walking off leaving Lena alone and with a swirl of doubt in her chest.

 

* * *

 

The next hour passed quickly, Kara, Cat and the other hands managed to separate the two herds successfully and after a quick and heated conversation between Cat and Rhea, Kara and the older blonde farmer pushed their herd back across themselves.

 

Lena sat calmer against Kara’s back now, her hands loosely fisting the blonde’s flannel shirt and listening as the blonde hummed out songs to the mob to keep them moving.

 

They got them through the boundary gate, Cat closing it with a padlock she had brought with her, and made their way back to the main house. After they had all dismounted, Cat sent Kara off with the horses and eyed her two farm hands that were standing stupidly by the yards they had set up.

 

“What are you two doing?” Cat asked them.

 

One man looked at the other, confused.

 

“Waiting for the cattle to come so we can seperate them?” 

 

Cat rolled her eyes.

 

“Well, obviously that’s done, no thanks to you two. Why don’t you do one thing, just one thing, that's useful today and finished repairing the headbales that you were supposed to fix last week?”

 

The men scuffed their feet and hastened to do as they were bid, arguing with each other about who was going to do what.

 

Cat let out an exasperated sigh and turned to face Lena.

 

“I heard about Edge. Good job.”

 

Lena nodded in reply.

 

“He’s a sexist, homophobic asshole,” she said bluntly.

 

The other woman nodded too before her gaze drifted past Lena. The brunette noted her eyes looking at a window to her house, a small face darting behind a curtain as soon as they landed on it.

 

“While bigots will always take the gold on the medal podium of my contempt,” Cat answered, shaking her head at her son’s actions. “The more they talk, the more they sabotage themselves.”

 

Lena didn’t agree. That only worked if the people listening to them had a brain and a moral conscious, which most of the time they never did. 

 

But she didn’t want to get into a debate.

 

“How did Kara end up working for you anyway?”

 

“She dated my son.”

 

Lena blinked rapidly.

 

“Carter?”

 

The other woman gave her an acidic glance.

 

“No, you imbecile. My older son, Adam.”

 

Lena should have been stung by being talked down too, but her mind was more focused on the fact that none of her notes had indicated Cat had another child.

 

“I didn’t know you had-“

 

The other woman cut her off.

 

“Why should you? He had finally come back home after telling me he never wanted to speak to me again, then he ended up dating Kara for a summer fling. When she broke up with him, she was obviously afraid that I would retaliate because she drove my son away, right as I was repairing my relationship with him. But I’m a professional so I don’t do upset. But Kiera felt so guilty about it, and she ended up working for me.”

 

That was a lot if information to process and Lena hated herself for wondering just how many sons of local landowners Kara had dated over the years.

 

“Oh.”

 

Cat gave her an amused look.

 

“Don’t worry, dear. Kara always has played for both teams. Morale among my seasonal workers always improved whenever she keep someone company.”

 

Lena’s lips pursed.

 

“A player then?” She asked distractedly.

 

Cat laughed.

 

“In case it wasn’t obvious, there’s not a lot of choice around here. People are just happy if they can shack up with someone who has all their teeth. And I’ve been informed that she has a certain charm. In an oblivious, stumbling sort of way.”

 

Lena had to agree but didn’t have time to reply when the sound of a car driving up the road caught her attention. She turned her head to spot Maggie’s police cruiser pulling to a stop and the aforementioned woman stepped out, just as Kara returned from the stables.

 

“Well well,” Kara said, walking towards the dimpled officer. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company Sheriff?”

 

Maggie eyed her up and down before replying.

 

“A little birdie told me that you were here, so I decided to bring someone along for the ride.”

 

She opened the door to let Oscar jump excitedly out of the car. The blonde farmer dropped to her knee to greet her happy dog, but instead of heading to Kara he bounced over to Lena instead. It took the brunette by surprise, but she couldn’t help but smile at the wriggling and panting fur ball.

 

“Ok, ok. Good boy,” she said, patting his head.

 

“I can’t believe this,” Kara muttered. “Betrayed by my own dog.”

 

“She probably smells better than you, Kara,” Maggie cut in.

 

The blonde farmer kicked a stone in the officer’s direction.

 

“Shut up, Maggie.” 

 

Cat watched the whole exchange with a critical eye, while Oscar all but sat on Lena’s foot and looked around at the human’s.

 

“Keira,” the older farmer said sharply, drawing Kara’s weary attention. “Get out the bucking barrel.”

 

Lena had no idea what she was talking about, but the younger blonde’s face immediately became exasperated, while Maggie grinned evilly.

 

“What?”

 

Cat shrugged, uncaring about the whine Kara had made.

 

“You’re signed up for a rodeo, remember? And you haven’t been practising.”

 

The young farmer let out a dramatic groan.

 

“Ms Grant-“

 

Cat stopped her with a single hard look.

 

“Kiera.”

 

The younger woman just nodded, resigned, and made her way towards one of the sheds.

 

“Yes, boss.”

 

* * *

 

Lena watched with a curious expression as Kara hauled an old forty-gallon drum out of the shed, and attached it to a large spring that was concreted into the ground not far away. Cat offering no help and merely ‘supervising’, much the younger blonde’s apparent annoyance. 

 

“Whats a bucking barrel?” The brunette asked with a frown when Kara released an expletive catching her finger between two metal pieces.

 

“It’s a training tool,” Maggie explained from next to her, grinning as she watched the same scene. “For bull riders. They get on the barrel and they have to shift their weight to make sure they don’t fall off. The spring keeps the movements fairly erratic, mimicking a bull.”

 

Lena’s thoughts became slightly distracted when Kara removed her long sleeved shirt, leaving her in a white singlet that showed off the hard curve of her tanned shoulders and arms.

 

Maggie gave her a knowing look, and Lena averted her eyes before responding.

 

“Well, that sounds a lot safer for her to start on.”

 

The officer shrugged in reply.

 

“She doesn’t need it really. But with the state she’s in she definitely deserves to be thrown on her ass,” the officer said without sympathy. “I’m not having her drink herself to death every time life hits her hard. Kara certainly has enough crap to deal with without becoming an alcoholic.”

 

Lena frowned at the harsh tone. She knew far too well what it was like to be on the receiving end of criticism when she slipped from the hard path she was ‘supposed’ to tread on.

 

“Maybe she just had a bad week,” she offered.

 

Maggie grimaced.

 

“Yeah, like she had two days last week,” the Sheriff said dryly. “And then there was December last year and the whole month of April. And don’t forget the three months after Clark left. The main reason she got expelled from high school.”

 

Lena looked at her with surprise. She had heard that Kara had dropped out of high school, but never that she was expelled. Looking at the hard working and intelligent woman now, the brunette couldn’t really reconcile her with the picture of a teenage delinquent.

 

“Kara got expelled?”

 

“Yeah, after setting fire to the gym. But she was failing so badly and was dealing with some pretty tough crap, even the apparently old bastard of a headmaster didn’t have the heart to report it to the authorities. Bit of a sore spot for the ‘rich’ snobs around here. Though if it had been reported, she would have probably gone to juvie. Still, the headmaster told her not to come back for the last four months.”

 

Cat, overhearing the conversation as she walked back towards them, spoke.

 

“She’s had a hard life, but she’s a fighter,” the older woman said firmly. “Just has a tendency to never ask for help.”

 

Maggie snorted.

 

“More than a tendency,” she muttered.

 

Before anyone else could speak, a loud bang and cursing sounded out from the other end of the yards. Lena turned to see one of the two male farmhands groaning, with a large metal bar lying on top of him as he sprawled in the dirt, the other laughing his head off.

 

Cat gritted her teeth, before stalking over to the pair of them.

 

“I swear, can you two idiots do anything without me holding your hand!?” She shouted.

 

“We’re trying our best, Ms Grant,” One muttered.

 

“Then we’re all doomed,” she responded dryly as the fallen man stood to his feet. “Trent, you’re uglier than a new-sheared sheep and twice a stupid, but this is a new low.” 

 

The older woman sighed and rubbed the sides of her head.

 

“If I may make a slight suggestion,” she continued icily. “When one is repairing something one hopes not to hit their head with a metal bar. So unless you want to break your own jaw, I would suggest that you use the natural force of gravity to help you. I realise that may be to complex for you to understand, and I would write it down, but unfortunately I also know you don’t even know how to sing the alphabet.”

 

Lena and Maggie both hid their laughs as the men looked down at their shoes.

 

“Sorry, Ms Grant.”

 

“Don’t be sorry, just do it right,” Cat snapped. “You work is as slow as a molasses is thick.”

 

The older woman continued to lecture them as both men began to scramble to finish. Lena turned back to Maggie with a smile.

 

“Well, she’s quite colourful.”

 

The sheriff laughed, scratching behind Oscar’s ears absentmindedly as the dog continued to lean and pant on Lena’s leg.

 

“Ms Grant is the icon of the area, that’s true.”

 

Lena's eyes were distracted once more when Kara, obviously deeming the barely secure, hopped on and began to balance herself carefully as it wobbled violently. 

 

“So Kara used to ride bulls?” Lena asked.

 

“Yeah. She won a bunch of junior events in other category’s when she was a kid too,” the dimpled woman replied, watching as Kara nearly fell in the dirt. “Steer wrestling and barrel racing was her real events.” 

 

Maggie’s face grew sad.

 

“But since they sold all their horses…. well, she doesn’t ride much anymore. I think she lost the enthusiasm." 

 

The barrel let out a sharp wobble and Kara fell in the dust with a splutter, before hopping back on.

 

“Isn’t it dangerous?” Lena asked.

 

“Extremely. The fitness level alone is astonishing.”

 

The brunette gave Maggie a surprised glance.

 

“It is?”

 

The shorted woman shrugged.

 

“Sure. It’s not all crazy, beer swilling rednecks who do this you know. You need to be fitter than an olympian just to last the full eight seconds.”

 

Lena’s brain conjured up a long forgotten memory, a small snapshot of an ad she had seen when she was a kid of a cowboy in an embroided shirt riding a wild and raging bull, only to be thrown off with a hard thwack.

 

It made her stomach churn to think of Kara doing the same thing.

 

“Doesn’t she need to work out then?”

 

Maggie smirked at her.

 

“Don’t worry, Kara’s ripped. And despite what she says about not wanting to ride, I know she does her exercises every day.”

 

Lena bit her lip, watching as the blonde’s singlet ride up as she bucked, exposing her hard abs.

 

“She likes to do her best,” the brunette replied softly.

 

Maggie turned to look at her, giving her a searching look.

 

“She puts her heart and soul into everything she does, you know.”

 

Lena glanced at the other woman, growing uncomfortable under her hard gaze.

 

“I gathered as much,” she replied testily.

 

Maggie squinted at her.

 

“I went around to Solitude this morning to find her,” she said slowly. “Kara’s been drinking for days and Alex was worried. But I saw her truck was missing and then I brought Oscar along with me. We looked in town and Winn told me she stayed with you last night.”

 

She said the words neutrally, but Lena couldn’t help but bristle.

 

“Nothing happened-“

 

The Sheriff cut her off.

 

“Oh, don’t worry. The Edge thing’s all over town by now.”

 

Not for the first time, Lena rolled her eyes at the small town’s notorious gossip chain. How was it that everyone knew everyone else business before they even got up in the morning? Honestly, the emergency response could learn a thing or two from these people. 

 

“Fantastic,” she said dully, watching as Kara landed on her butt once more.

 

Maggie’s gaze softened minutely.

 

“Thank you,” she murmured. “For looking after her last night.”

 

Lena gave her a confused look.

 

“It wasn’t…. it was just what a decent person would have done.”

 

The Sheriff eyed her beadily.

 

“If you hurt her,” she suddenly said in a warning tone. “You’ll have to deal with a hell of a lot of people in this town. Including me.”

 

Lena’s pride felt tickled.

 

“I didn’t think you were that close,” she said bluntly.

 

The other woman sniffed, before looking back at the blonde.

 

“Kara’s my fiancés best friend,” she explained. “They’re practically sisters. That makes her family. And besides, we may have our differences, but I like her. She’s a good person, and she deserves to be with someone who will treat her right.” 

 

The Sheriff looked her up and down.

 

“No offence, but you seem like the worst candidate for the job.”

 

Lena should have been upset, but she had to agree.

 

“I’m not trying to hurt her,” she replied softly.

 

“You’re trying to buy her land. I think you hurting her is the inevitable result of you succeeding in your goal.”

 

That twinged her temper.

 

“This is my job,” she said bluntly.

 

The other woman didn’t seem to care.

 

“And part of your job is making one of the few genuinely kind people on the planet fall in love with you?”

 

At the word love, Lena’s eyes widened and she felt the stirring’s of panic in her chest.

 

“We don’t even know each other, I hardly think Kara is-“

 

Maggie let out a cold laugh.

 

“I’m not an idiot, Lena. I have pretty good gaydar and I can read between the lines. You can’t look me in the eyes and tell me that you don’t know she’s falling and falling hard. And when you go back to the city, which you will, you’re going to leave an emotional crater in your wake in more ways than one.”

 

It annoyed Lena how disturbed she felt at the statement, especially as a part of her brain knew without a doubt that the observant Sheriff was right.

 

Fortunately, she didn’t have to respond, when Kara got thrown off the barrel quite violently and onto her back.

 

“Fuck!”

 

Maggie laughed.

 

“You ok there Zorel?” She teased.

 

The blonde remained flat, staring up at the sky.

 

“No.”

 

The short woman snorted.

 

“Oh come on,” she cried out. “You’re losing your edge.”

 

Kara lifted her head and glared at Maggie.

 

“You want to give it a try?” She asked darkly.

 

The dimpled woman lifted her hands and began to walk backwards.

 

“Nope. I’m going to be enjoying the event from the spectator stands. And even thoughI’m not a country girl, you’re really shit,” she teased, much to Kara’s irritation as she scrambled to her feet. 

 

“Lucky if you last two seconds on the real thing.”

 

The blonde scowled and gave the barrel a hard kick, the clanging sounding off over the yards.

 

“I never wanted to do this stupid thing anyway,” she grumbled.

 

“You made a promise to Alex, remember?” Maggie reminded.

 

The blonde sighed and took on a defeated air.

 

“Yeah… I know.”

 

The officer smiled.

 

“Then get back on the barrel.”

 

Kara rolled her eyes, before turning her attention to Lena.

 

“How you going, Lee? Is Sawyer driving you insane yet.”

 

Lena’s heart skipped a beat at the pet name but grew despondent when Maggie gave her a 'told you so' look.

 

“No, I’m fine.”

 

“Stop avoiding, Kara,” the Sheriff sounded out.

 

Kara rolled her eyes, before walking away from the barrel and towards the water trough. She picked up the half broken bucket next to it, filled it and poured the water over her head. Rivulets of dusty water washed away from her face and ran down her shirt, making the white material almost see through and Lena’s mouth nearly drop at the action.

 

While the blonde was distracted, pulling her wet hair back from her chest, Maggie gave the brunette’s shoulder a nudge.

 

“Better pick your jaw up off the floor, Luthor.”

 

Lena shook her head, trying to clear the repeated image rotating again and again, but her eyes remained locked on the defined muscles in Kara’s back.

 

“I’m fine.”

 

Maggie laughed.

 

“Sure you are,” she teased. “The thirst is strong in you…. Lee.”

 

Lena blinked her vision away.

 

“What?”

 

The other woman tilted her head.

 

“Pet names is all,” she mused before letting out a groan. “Crap, you’re in this as deep as she is, aren’t you?”

 

Lena didn’t respond to the words and instead, redirected the conversation.

 

“So you and Alex are engaged then. That’s big.”

 

The other woman smiled to herself, eyes brightening with happiness.

 

“Yeah… I’ve been asking her for ages, but she always turned me down. To be honest, I think the only reason she said yes to a ‘quiet’ engagement is that she’s half convinced that Eliza’s going to have to sell the farm,” she muttered lowly, making sure the blonde farmer didn’t overhear. 

 

“Don’t tell Kara, though… she’ll think Alex is giving up.”

 

Lena frowned.

 

“Or just being practical.”

 

Maggie looked tired all of a sudden.

 

“Kara has enough on her plate right now. This rodeo coming up is what she needs to focus on. It’ll be a big win for her, in more ways than one.” 

 

The dimpled woman watched as Kara clambered back on the barrel with renewed enthusiasm.

 

“She needs this.”

 

Lena frowned all of a sudden.

 

“The rodeo in Argo?”

 

“Yeah, you going?”

 

The brunette suddenly remembered the organised sponsorship event Lex had roped her into before she had even arrived in Argo. Citing that it would be a good way for the locals to open up and trust her. Lena had to go, as the official sponsor, even though she had zero interest in dealing with drunk rednecks.

 

“Unfortunately”

 

Maggie smiled at her, picking up on her distaste.

 

“I didn’t think I’d like it either the first time I went. But trust me, you’ll get into it.”

 

Lena wasn’t convinced.

 

“Schmoozing with a the Daxams the Lords and Edge?”

 

“Well, nobody said you had to hang out with them,” Maggie offered, eyeing Lena’s new outfit with a smirk. “I’ll bring you a disguise, dress you up as a cowgirl. Hat and all.”

 

Lena shuddered.

 

“As tempting as that sounds-“

 

She was cut off when Kara suddenly appeared, half limping, beside her, looking thoroughly winded and exhausted.

 

“Hey, I’ve had enough of this rubbish,” she mumbled to Lena. “Do you want to head back into town?”

 

Lena shrugged but eyed Kara’s clothes up and down with disdain.

 

“Sure. But you better have a shower before you step one foot in my car.”

 

Kara nodded her acceptance.

 

“I’ll just wash off in the trough-“

 

The brunette’s eyes widened.

 

“No!”

 

The farmer blinked at her loud shout, a confused look crossing her face when Maggie bit back a laugh.

 

“…ok, I’ll use the shower in the house and get murdered by Cat. I wanted to say hi to Carter anyway, I guess.” 

 

Kara turned her eyes to Maggie.

 

“You hanging around Sheriff?”

 

The officer’s good mood evaporated with a grimace.

 

“No, I’ve got a call out to the Lords.”

 

Kara frowned in solidarity.

 

“Give them a kick for me, will you?”

 

The dimpled woman nodded, tipping her hat at Lena and the blonde.

 

“See ya later, Kara. Luthor.”

 

Lena nodded in reply.

 

“Sheriff.”

 

Kara watched as Maggie drove away, a thoughtful look on her face as she patted her dog’s head.

 

“So… what did she really talk to you about?”

 

Lena grew uncomfortable.

 

“I thought you didn’t like gossip?”

 

Kara gave her a funny look but shrugged.

 

“Fair enough.”

 

The pair began to walk back to the house in silence, Oscar running ahead before Lena looked over at Kara out of the corner of her eye.

 

“You seem to really know what you’re doing with the cattle.”

 

Kara smiled happily.

 

“Well, I’ve been running after them since I was in diapers,” as explanation. “When Clark was ten he used to ride his pony with me in front. Our parents always said once we were old enough to walk, we were old enough to work.”

 

Lena mused over the words, recalling her own privileged, but cold, home life when she was a kid.

 

“Must have been an interesting childhood. Certainly sounds more fun than mine. I was taught five languages before I was twelve, a ruler smacked on my knuckles if I so much as forgot a verb.”

 

Kara looked at her, delighted.

 

“Wow, which ones?” She asked eagerly.

 

“French, Spanish, Italian, German and Irush.”

 

The blonde gave her a quizzical look.

 

“Irish?”

 

Lena explained.

 

“It’s spoken, nor so much anymore. It was only allowed one language I could pick for myself.”

 

“Why did you choose Irish?”

 

Lena became sad.

 

“It’s what my birth mother used to talk to me with,” she said softly.

 

The farmer gave her a surprised look.

 

“You’re adopted?”

 

Lena’s thoughts darkened.

 

“Yeah, it was buried in paperwork. Not many people know,” she muttered.

 

“What was your birth mom like?” Kara suddenly asked.

 

The brunette looked at her, slightly lost for words. Nobody had ever asked that before, not even Lex.

 

Definitely not Veronica.

 

“I was only four when she died,” she replied with a frown. "But I remember…. She was kind, confident. She had an incredible singing voice. She used to sing me to sleep every night. I think I miss that the most… and her smile.” 

 

Lena suddenly blinked back tears.

 

“She drowned when I was little.”

 

The blonde gave her a sympathetic look.

 

“My mom used to sing me to sleep too… I miss her as well,” she answered, her eyes becoming distant.  


 

“Every day.”

 

Lena reached out an touched Kara’s shoulder lightly.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

The blonde smiled weakly and patted her hand.

 

“I’m sorry, for your mom too.”

 

Lena let her hand linger for a moment, before dropping it.

 

“What was _your_ mother like?”

 

Kara grinned at the memory.

 

“Tough as nails,” she said with a wink.

 

“Just like you then?” Lena teased.

 

The blonde’s mood suddenly dropped once more.

 

“Yeah… though I take after my father’s features.”

 

Lena could hear the despondent tone in Kara’s voice and guessed that the other woman meant she took after her father in character as well as looks.

 

“That not a bad thing,” Lena said quietly. “Maybe you got the best of both parents. My father was…. well. I was always his favourite, but he was… less kind to my brother. I think that’s why Lex has become so…. himself.”

 

Kara gave Lena an amused grin.

 

“A SpongeBob officiando?”

 

Lena snorted, looking out at the horizon.

 

“Something like that.”

 

A few seconds of quiet filled the time between them before Kara asked another question.

 

“Does he call you every day?”

 

Lena detected the slight vein of envy in the other woman’s voice.

 

“Yes,” she answered with a smile. “He’s more than just my brother though, he’s my best friend. I guess it might seem odd to some people, but he’s the only person who had always been in my corner. Ever since he first met me, he never thought I wasn’t his sister.”

 

Kara shook her head, eyes becoming distant.

 

“It’s not odd, it’s nice. Family should be like that. Support each other through thick and thin,” she said sadly.

 

All at once, the dam walls Lena had built around her feelings came crashing down. She felt a wave of empathy and sadness of Kara. All the struggles, all her life, that she had to deal with.

 

That she was still dealing with.

 

And all because she had a dream for her land, and for her heart. Investing more than just money, but time and love and a shared history with all of her family. Something that irrevocably tied them all together, no matter how far they may drift. Somewhere that always meant home.

 

At that moment, Lena didn’t care about her company or her deals or the money.

 

She just wanted to stop it.

 

But she couldn’t.

 

“You’ve got that too, you know,” Lena said instead of what she was really feeling. “Alex, Eliza, Maggie, Winn, Jonn, Sam and Ruby. They’re all there for you.”

 

Kara sighed.

 

“Don’t get me wrong, I love them all so much… but it’s not the same.”

 

Lena bumped her shoulder against Kara’s.

 

“No, it’s better.”

 

The blonde gaze her a searching look, Lena was struck by just how brilliantly blue the other woman’s eyes were. Like they contained the sky itself.

 

Stupid feelings.

 

“You’re sweet,” Kara whispered. “Under all that steely facade.”

 

Lena frowned.

 

“Thanks?”

 

The blonde shook her head, blushing slightly.

 

“No, I meant… ugh. I’m usually a lot better at this,” she muttered.

 

The businesswoman bit her lip, but couldn’t help herself.

 

“Flirting?” She asked.

 

Kara gave her a surprised look but took her words as permission to continue.

 

“….yeah. But I guess I shouldn’t really do that.”

 

Lena should have taken the chance then, to agree and stop whatever ever was building between them grow even further than it already had. 

 

She was getting far to close to crossing boundaries.

 

“I don’t know, you’ve already tried to kiss me,” she said unbidden instead. “I think I can handle it.”

 

Kara groaned.

 

“God, you’re going to bring that up forever, aren’t you?” She whined out, scuffing her feet in the dirt. “I’m so embarrassed.” 

 

The blonde winced.

 

“I’m really sorry. I mean, not about wanting to kiss you, because… well, have you looked at you? You’re the most beautiful person I think I’ve ever seen in my life,” she rambled out. 

 

“I mean…. shit. I shouldn’t have said that… Look, I don’t want this to all get mixed around. It’s all pretty confusing, and I’m not really sure how we became…. friendly? I mean, we’re kinda supposed to be enemies. But like, I don’t know… I guess we could…. shit, I’m speaking like an idiot.”

 

Lena blinked at the onslaught of words.

 

“Ok, I think half of that made sense,” she replied slowly.

 

Kara seemed to hesitate before a determined look crossed her face.

 

“Here’s the thing,” she began confidently. “I know we don’t really know each other that well, but I feel like we’ve got this kind of _electricity_ between us? And maybe it’s all in my head because I’m completely stressed out about this whole thing and maybe I just want this, because it would be the most rebellious thing I’ve ever done, and trust me I’ve done a lot.” 

 

The blonde gave her a tortured look, before reaching out and tracing Lena’s cheek with her fingers as if the blonde was made of porcelain that she was terrified of breaking.

 

“It’s just… you frustrate me more than anyone I’ve ever known,” she continued with a whisper. 

 

"But you also get my brain firing more than anyone else either. When I’m around you, you make me feel more alive than I have in a long time. It’s only when I’m not near you that I remember that you’re trying to buy my land. And it’s terrifying because I just…. want to kiss you.” 

 

Kara’s gaze darted down to Lena’s lips and her eyes filled with longing.

 

“All the time,” she continued. “And after I yelled at you and…. look, I’m so sorry about that. I know you didn’t want me to bring it up, and I’m not trying to make excuses I just want to explain. My father is-“

 

Lena’s mind was running at full steam, but she softly cut in.

 

“Kara. Stop and take a breath.”

 

The other woman frowned.

 

“I’m sorry, I know I ramble-“

 

“Kara. Stop apologising,” Lena said. “I’m not angry that you got upset with me. I know it was more about your father.”

 

“I’m sorr-“

 

Lena placed a delicate finger on the blonde’s lips, marvelling at how soft they remained even in their hot and dry weather. 

 

Wondering if Kara used chapstick and what it would taste like.

 

“Shh.”

 

The blonde swallowed and nodded.

 

Lena tried to gather her thoughts then, even though they were in a tumble right now.

 

“Ok, my turn to speak. Give me a second to digest all of that….”

 

A beat passed, while Lena battled with herself and let out a sigh.

 

“It’s a bad idea, Kara. Me and you.”

 

The blonde looked anguished and angry with herself.

 

“I should never have-“

 

Lena cut her off once more.

 

“Shhh…. It’s not that I don’t like you, Kara. I really do.” 

 

She needed Kara to know that.

 

“It’s just…. I haven’t felt this way in a long time, and it scares me too. I don’t like to mix my work with romance anyway and in this particular case… it all feels far too personal.” 

 

Lena closed her eyes.

 

“Truthfully,” she whispered out. “I never should have gotten as close to you as I am now. It’s not professional and I’m sorry. I should never have put you in a position where you…. It could never work, Kara.” 

 

She opened them again, staring into Kara’s kind and honest face. Thinking to herself that the only thing that could come of it, would be her causing the blonde an indescribable amount of pain and heartache.

 

And Lena might never recover from that either.

 

“It wouldn’t be long term and there’s too much tension between us for it not to be personal in some way,” she explained. “I’m not the type of person who has a one night stand… usually. And I wouldn’t want it to be that way with you. I care about you too much. I would be the worst person for you to get involved with.” 

 

The other woman didn’t look like she agreed, and Lena sighed.

 

“There’s something you should know about me, Kara.”

 

“What?”

 

The brunette swallowed.

 

“I’m very, very choosy.”

 

Kara smiled weakly.

 

“Then I’m very, very honoured.”

 

Lena grew sad.

 

“I’m famously callous, even to the point of being insensitive,” she said bluntly. “I have an absolute inability to trust anyone. The only woman I’ve ever loved was Veronica, and if it wasn’t illegal I would hire an assassin to kill her.”

 

It was true, every word. Her faults were numerous and the last thing she wanted to do was let rosy feelings between them cloud Kara from remembering what her true nature was.

 

She wasn’t a good person.

 

The blonde shook her head and spoke softly herself.

 

“You’ve been honest with me, so I should be honest with you,” she replied. “I’m very. very suspicious. Very irrational and I have a very, _very_ short temper. I’m also extremely jealous and slow to forgive.” 

 

Kara shrugged with a smile.

 

“Just so you know.”

 

The brunette felt her hardened heart melt a little.

 

“See? We sound like a match made it heaven then.”

 

The blonde looked like she was going to reply, but it was cut off by an excited voice shouting from the porch.

“Kara! Are you done with the muster?”

 

The blonde stepped back from Lena and plastered a fake smile on her face before she turned to face Carter.

 

“Don’t pretend you weren’t looking out the window the whole time, Go-Cart.”

 

The teen rolled his eyes.

 

“Are you really going to enter at the rodeo, Kara?” He asked with an excitable grin.

 

Kara shrugged.

 

“Sure, but only if you come to watch.”

 

The boy’s face became uncertain.

 

“I don’t know… it runs pretty late. Mom doesn’t like-“

 

Kara waved his worries away with her hand.

 

“Ah, come on. You can hang out with me and my friends. Plus,” she continued superstitiously.

 

“Ruby will definitely be there.”

 

“She will!?” The boy shouted, before putting on a casual air that fooled no one. “I mean… oh, that’s cool.”

 

Lena bit her lip in amusement.

 

“Sure it is,” Kara said dryly. “Now go on and finish your work.”

 

Carter sighed but turned to do so, waving goodbye to Lena.

 

“Ok, it was nice to meet you again Ms Luthor!”

 

The brunette smiled at the happy teen.

 

“Lena, remember?”

 

Carter ran back inside with all the enthusiasm of youth and Kara chuckled good naturally.

 

“Why does he get homeschooled?” Lena asked.

 

The blonde snorted.

 

“If you knew what the high school’s like in Argo, you’d do the same if you could,” she explained. 

 

“But he went to elementary school in town and he’s been in love with Ruby ever since they started PreK. She likes him too, though she never admitted it. Part of the reason she went off the rails a bit was that he was her only friend... that and high schoolers are dicks.”

 

Lena looked over a Kara and shook her head at her sad tone.

 

“You really care about everyone far too much.”

 

The blonde arched an eyebrow at her.

 

“How can you care about people too much?”

 

“You’ve got to look after yourself too,” Lena explained. “Like on a plane, you’ve got to put your own oxygen mask on first otherwise you can’t help anyone if you’re unconscious.”

 

Kara watched her with a soft look, not replying and Lena fidgeted under her thoughtful stare.

 

“What?”

 

The blonde gave her a crooked smile.

 

“I don’t know why, but when you say shit like that it really turns me on,” she purred.

 

Lena felt a stirring in her chest, but she pushed Kara away.

 

“Have a shower, you moron.”

 

* * *

 

Once they had reached Argo, Lena wincing every time Oscar shift his sharp nails on her leather seats, Kara unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out of the car.

 

“Thanks for driving me back to town, Lena.”

 

The brunette smiled at her, nodding to the trio of doddering old ladies walking down the street while trying to hide their whispers and pointing.

 

“I wasn’t going to let you walk.”

 

The blonde closed her door and let Oscar jump out, before walking around the car.

 

“No, seriously. For everything today and last night. I really appreciate it.”

 

Lena nodded and cleared her throat, before heading towards the entrance to the Bar.

 

“You better come up to get your clothes.”

 

Kara didn’t reply but followed behind her.

 

The second they opened the door to the Bar and Winn looked at them, Lena could sense his panic.

 

“I’m so sorry, Ms Luthor,” he cried despondently.

 

The brunette frowned at the man.

 

“What?”

 

His face twisted with upset.

 

“I closed the place up when I went to Argo to get our stock and when I got back… Someone’s broken in.”

 

Kara gasped, but Lena’s thoughts immediately turned to her room. She bolted up the stairs, Kara clunking behind her in her heavy boots. Once they made it to the broken down door, the brunette stopped in her tracks.

 

The whole place was trashed. The mattress and pillows slashed open, Lena’s luggage and electronic gear missing, as well as the emergency cash she had brought with her. 

 

Even Kara’s dirty clothes were gone. 

 

Lena felt a wave of anger and kicked the post of her bed.

 

“FUCK!” She screamed when a stab of pain radiated up her leg.

 

Kara hesitated at the door before she took a cautious step into the room.

 

“Hey, it’ll be ok,” she said gently.

 

Lena just frowned, feeling an instant migraine coming on.

 

“Now I’ve got to order all my shit back from the city,” she muttered. “And I can’t even stay here… Fuck. Why is everything going wrong? This is literally hell on earth. I hate this fucking place and everyone in it! I just want to go home.”

 

At the last word, her voice broke and she had to fight back tears. Lena cursed herself for how emotional she had been ever since she had arrived in this stupid town.

 

“You can stay with me.”

 

Lena spun around, giving Kara a wide-eyed look.

 

“Kara-“

 

The farmer cut over her nervously.

 

“I’ve finished refurbishing the cottage on the farm,” she rambled. “It’s meant for guests anyway. You can pay me if you really want to. And it’s safe. I’ll give you Oscar to look after you." 

 

The blonde swallowed when Lena didn’t reply.

 

“Please,” she begged. “I owe you.”

 

Lena was torn, not having a place to sleep was bad... but this was an even worse idea. She was supposed to be distancing herself.

 

“Kara, I don’t-“

 

“It’s got air conditioning.”

 

The brunette felt a wave of relief, her shirt already sticking to her back in the stifling air of Argo.

 

“Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, what did we think? If you liked, please let me know. I love to read comments, they'll make my holidays :) That, or follow me on Tumblr. The link is in my bio, but it's the same name anyway.
> 
> I hope you all have a good holiday, but for those of you with troubled circumstances or asshole families, just know that my thoughts are with you and I'm eating all your food in spirit! 
> 
> Thanks again for reading :)


	9. It's Been A While

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it people, I have returned from the adventures to give you this chapter :) Please, no applause. I don't need any accolades... But if you insist :)
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr, buy me a Ko-Fi (currently proceeds are going to feed a puppy I saved), kudos, subscribe and comment! 
> 
> I ADORE COMMENTS!!!!
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> All links are in my profile :)
> 
> Songs for this chapter;
> 
> Give Into Me - Garrett Hedlund 
> 
> Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
> 
> Girl from the North Country - Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash

Kara wasn’t exactly sure how she always managed to get herself into these situations. She would like to chalk it up to merely being a magnet for trouble, but in all honesty, she was the one who invited it through the door. 

 

Waking up in Lena’s bed this morning had been more than enough reason to be embarrassed, monstrous hangover and all. While she muddied through her thoughts of the night before, the one image that had stuck profoundly out was the way Lena had defended her from Edge. 

 

She didn’t want to deny it anymore; she knew that she found Lena attractive in every way possible. Kara wasn’t in denial about the complexity of the situation. The farmer knew that this wasn’t something that would end well at all, no matter what happened. She may want Lena, like her even, but she despised what she was here to do.

 

And Kara for Lena…. she was an obstacle.

 

It was confusing and doomed to be a hot mess, but Kara found herself slowly willing to throw caution to the wind. It felt like her entire life these days was handling various disasters and trying to keep them at bay. If it wasn’t her father, it was their lack of money. The unholy rich trio of families that had made it their mission to hate her.

 

And the never-ending drought.

 

Kara flew home as fast as her clunky truck could take her, roaring to a stop and rushing up the newly painted steps of the cottage she had so painstakingly renovated. A part of her was kicking herself for offering the place to Lena to stay, knowing that putting up the person solely dedicated to undermine her limited hold on her property, would be seen as insane by everybody in the area. Not to mention Lena would be within a hundred feet of Kara’s dad at all times. 

 

And she hadn’t even told him yet.

 

The whole thing was a train wreck waiting to happen, but it wasn’t like she was going to leave Lena near tears with all her stuff stolen and nowhere safe to sleep. Call it generous, but she always was a sucker for a damsel in distress. 

 

Though these days Kara was pretty sure she was the damsel instead. 

 

She had left Lena in town at the station, filling out a police report, and then spent the whole drive home freaking herself out. She rushed around the cottage as fast as possible, opening windows to rooms that still had the lingering smell of paint. The place wasn’t even fully furnished, something she had been planning to do over the next few months if she had the money, but it would have to do for now. It had working water, only clean after Kara spent three weeks replacing rusted pipes and filters, running aircon and a bed. 

 

Kara wasn’t exactly ready to host guests. 

 

Still, sink or swim was her forte. 

 

Kara had just managed to make the bed with fresh sheets when she heard the sound of Lena’s car rolling up the driveway. Suddenly the whole situation compounded on top of her and Kara took a breath, trying to calm her beating heart.

 

It was only when Lena began to walk up the front steps that Kara found to courage to smile in greeting. She stepped out into the hall, watching nervously as Lena opened the door and looked around with her sunglasses on and with a neutral expression.

 

“So this is… the cottage,” the blonde said with a wild gesture, almost knocking over a lamp.

 

The brunette just watched as she scrambled for it and placed it back purposely on the table. Kara looked back up and gave her a weak grimace.

 

“It’s nice,” Lena finally replied, brushing past Kara and began to inspect the rest of the small house. 

 

The farmer hovered half a step behind, not understanding for the life of her why she was so invested in what Lena thought. It wasn’t like she had anything to prove, after all. She knew it was no Ritz Carlton, but surely her renovation was better than the crappy room The Bar had offered up. 

 

“Yeah, I mean I did my best to fix it up,” Kara muttered out, as Lena rotated in a circle as she inspected the kitchenette.“It was ; youa shack to start with.” 

 

The second Lena’s back turned, Kara placed her foot over the tiny drop of paint that had hardened on the wooden floor.

 

“I mean… it’ll never be on Grand Designs…”

 

Lena took off her sunglasses and turned around to look at her with amusement.

 

“You watch Grand Designs?”

 

Kara bit her lip, feeling very much like an alien in her own body under Lena’s piercing gaze.

 

“Don’t sound so shocked,” she murmured out. “I can have class.”

 

“No, no…” Lena replied, looking around the room once more, this time with a warmer smile. “It’s just; you don’t seem the type to be interested in architecture.” 

 

She turned back to face Kara and arched an eyebrow.

 

“But I guess I should stop trying to put you in a box, shouldn’t I? You always end up surprising me.”

 

For some reason, Kara flushed under the statement, but would later justify it to the heat of the day. She let out a cough instead, swinging her arms vaguely and took a few stumbling steps backwards.

 

“Thanks…” She murmured, hitting the doorframe and shifting around it awkwardly. “Well, I better let you settle in… Any problems and I’m only a phone call away…”

 

Lena followed her as she walked back down the hall, her eyes never leaving Kara’s face, making the blonde feel very flustered.

 

“Or you can always knock on my window,” Kara mumbled out. “It’s the closest one facing the cottage and on the right.”

 

Lena frowned at her strange statement, staring at her perplexed.

 

“Your window?” She questioned. “Why your window?”

 

Kara grimaced, trying not to imagine how her father would react open discovering that she was letting Lena stay in the cottage. The brunette would be able to hear that argument from here.

 

“I don’t want my father to….”

 

She trailed off and averted her eyes. 

 

The whole situation was embarrassing enough, but Lena had already witnessed how badly her father could behave. And that was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to one of her dad’s screaming matches.

 

After a brief pause, Kara looked back up at the dark-haired woman and noted with relief that she wasn’t looking at her like she was mad. Or worse, with pity.

 

“Got it,” Lena said instead, accepting the request like it was normal. “But I don’t have your number either.”

 

Kara felt a new wave of embarrassment, wondering once more how stupid she must be to think that she would ever be able to run this place as a B and B. She was a farmer, not a hostess. Still, as fast as she could, she scrambled for the nearby cabinet drawer.

 

“Oh… here,” she mumbled, finding the generic stack of business cards she’d printed and handed one to Lena. 

 

“It’s… it hardly ever has signal around here though…. but I’ll be… around and about,” she finished as the other woman typed it into her phone dutifully.

 

The blonde hovered for a few more seconds, before moving to leave the house. Lena’s voice stopping her before she could reach the doorway.

 

“Kara?”

 

The farmer turned and almost fell over her feet.

 

“Yeah?” She asked, recovering with a blush as Lena bit her lip in amusement at her actions.

  
  
“Thank you… for this.”

 

Kara scoffed, blowing off her thanks with a wave of her hand.

 

“Oh… yeah, well I wasn’t gonna let you stay somewhere unsafe,” she said honestly under Lena’s piercing gaze. “At least out here, no-one will bother you. Nobody visits anyway after all. And if you are worried, I meant what I said. Oscar can stay with you.”

 

Lena stared at her with soft eyes and Kara felt a wave of longing grow in her chest. The brunette could be so hard and cold, like marble to the naked eye, but underneath it all, Kara had seen that she had a fierce and protective centre. 

It made Kara want to melt.  


“I’ll be fine.”

 

The blonde farmer dragged her thoughts back to reality, stopping her imagination from running rampant and gave the other woman a weak smile.

 

“Ok then… well, You reported the break-in, so I’m sure Maggie will be by at some point to check on you again,” she stated, looking around the freshly renovated place once more. “But until then, relax… enjoy the aircon….”

 

Lena nodded once again, her eyes lighting up at the mention of it.

 

“Thank you, Kara,” she repeated once more.

 

The blonde’s smile was stronger this time.

 

“Your welcome, Lena,” she said quietly, before turning on her heel and making to walk off once more. 

 

She was halfway down the steps when she heard the screen door open behind her and Lena’s voice call out.

 

“Ah, Kara?”

 

The blonde turned once more, tilting her hat to shade her eyes from the hot sun.

 

“Yeah?”

 

For the first time during their conversation, Lena was the awkward one. Shuffling on her feet.

 

“I might… I might need some things to wear,” she murmured. “Most of my stuff was stolen.”

 

Kara blinked, an unbidden thought of what Lena looked like naked flashing to the forefront of her mind which she stuffed down quickly as she blushed furiously. 

 

“Oh… sure. I… we can go into Kandor to shop for some,” she stuttered out. “But you can borrow some of mine until then. And I’ll um… I’ll get you some plates and stuff if you want to cook. I mean, I can cook for you…. but I’m not that good. Dad and I mostly survive off baked beans around here. But we could go today for some supplies, but by the time we get there most of the-”

 

“Kara,” the other woman interrupted her. “Take a breath.”

 

Kara opened her mouth briefly, before she took a couple of steps forward, Lena staring down at her from the porch.

 

“Sorry,” she answered. “I’m just a little…. well.”

 

Lena’s mused smirk died once she realised just how nervous Kara was. 

 

“Kara, I like the place,” she said sincerely. “You’ve done a good job on it, and the aircon is going to save my sanity.”

 

The blonde relaxed somewhat as Lena looked at the front of the cottage once more.

 

“How much do you want per night?”

 

Kara blinked.

 

“Oh…. um… It’s ok.”

 

Lena shook her head, taking a few steps forward so she could reach out and touched her shoulder gently. 

 

“No, don’t do that,” she said firmly. “I’m going to pay you for it. Is three hundred dollars a night enough?”

 

Kara’s eyes widened at the thought. These days she wouldn’t even earn that if she worked a full week! She had thought the place was maybe worth seventy a night, and she wasn’t expecting anybody to stay long term the way that Lena was. If she was going to pay her that much in a month, with extra hours, Kara might finally be able to pay back the bank this month. 

 

The irony that the very woman who wanted to take her land from her would be helping her keep it wasn’t lost on her.

 

“Three… three hundred…” Kara stuttered out, the thoughts of cash in hand disappearing under the knowledge that Lena would be overpaying by lightyears. "No, I can’t. You just needed a place to stay-“

 

“Kara,” Lena cut off bluntly. “One thing I think you and I have in common is that we don’t like to be indebted to people. It’s already kind enough that you offered this place to me... given the circumstances.”

 

Yes, Kara thought. The circumstances being that none of this made any sense at all. Her letting Lena stay here… 

 

Lena choosing to do so. 

 

"I’m not going to let you put me up for free,” the brunette finished off.

 

The blonde felt her resolve to falter.

 

“But three hundred a night is-“

 

“Perfectly reasonable,” Lena cut her off again, giving her a lopsided smile. “I evaluate land for a living; I know how much places like this go for.” 

 

Kara frowned down at her feet. Lena picked up once more on her uncertainty, her hand shifting from the farmer’s shoulder and slipping up the back of her neck. The blonde felt a shiver run down her spine at the soft graze of Lena’s fingertips. She twisted her face into it, as Lena’s fingers curled in the nape of her hair.

 

Kara’s blue eyes lifted and locked with Lena’s green ones.

 

“So,” the businesswoman whispered out in a low and husky voice. “I’m going to ask again. Is three hundred enough?”

 

The blonde swayed slightly under Lena’s gaze, the sensible part of her mind crossing its arms and scolding her for faltering so quickly under pretty girls batted eyes. It was decidedly unfair that Lena would flirt with her to get her way, mainly when she had told Kara just that day that nothing was going to happen between them.

 

“Yeah that’s,” Kara choked out, clearing her throat. “…. that’s great.”

 

A slow smile and satisfied smile grew on Lena’s face, and she let her fingers drop. 

 

“Ok then.”

 

The woman began her slow walk back inside, leaving Kara slightly shell shocked. It was only when Lena had stepped in the house that she rediscovered her voice. 

 

“At least let me make you dinner!” She cried out.“Please.”

 

Lena let out an amused laugh, the sound making Kara preen.

 

“I thought you said you couldn’t cook?” She asked.

 

The blonde blushed.

 

“I’ll figure it out,” she murmured. “You’ve had a hard day.”

 

Lena snorted, rubbing at the cheap, borrowed flannel she had been wearing all day. 

 

“So have you,” she answered with a groan, rubbing the side of her head with a wince. “God, I don’t know how you do it. Working all those hours from sunrise to sundown, under this baking heat. I think I’d die.”

 

Kara looked her over, eyes trailing up her form and the way the opened buttons dipped low down her chest. 

 

“You’d do alright,” she murmured out. “You did a good job today.”

 

Lena didn’t seem to notice her heated stare. Instead, reaching down to rub her legs with another wince.

 

“I just sat behind you, and I’m already feeling it in my thighs.”

 

Kara’s eyes trailed down lower before she caught herself, snapping her gaze back up to Lena’s face with another deep flush.

 

“Well…. you certainly look the part,” she sounded out. “If I didn’t know better, I could swear you belonged here. Hat, dust and all.” 

 

Lena gave her a happy look, and Kara’s heart slowly began to glow with pride, She took a few steps back, tipping her hat in the brunette’s direction.

 

"Anyway… I’ll just go get you those clothes… The towels are under the bathroom sink,” she finished, before half jogging away and praying that she didn’t say something else stupid and royally put her foot in it. 

 

She ran up the rotting steps of the main house's back porch, slamming the door behind her and leaning against it. Panting with exertion, Kara closed her eyes and let out a long groan at her as her own idiocy caught up with her. What the hell was she thinking? She might as well have brought the wolf to the sheep, and all because she suddenly had to get infatuated with the one person on the whole planet that she definitely shouldn’t be with. Not only did she had to deal with her alcoholic father, her crushing debt and the fact that she was mentally torn between three thousand places at once, but she also had to add another load onto her own back.

 

Kara thumped the back of her head against the door, once then twice, then three times more. 

 

What the hell was wrong with her?

 

“Kara?” Her father’s voice suddenly called out. “You’re back?”

 

The blonde farmer closed her eyes at the hopeful tone, psyching herself up for another headache. To add insult to injury, the last time she had talked to her father they’d argued. 

 

Kara let out a heavy breath, pushing away from the door and walking towards the sound of her father’s voice.

 

“Yeah Dad,” she called out softly. “I’m back…”

 

She turned the corner into the kitchen and took in the vision of her father with a raised eyebrow. He was actually dressed, a stark change from his usual attire of a dressing gown. Clean-shaven and bright-eyed, looking at her without the typical tremor in his hand. If she didn’t know better, she could have sworn that he was sober. But the half drunk whisky on the table in front of him betrayed him in that department. 

 

But a part of Kara’s heart couldn’t help but lurch with a mixture of hope and agony. Even though she had learned long ago not to have her hopes raised when it came to her father’s lucidity, the small childlike part of herself still yearned for a day when she would wake up and the father she remembered would be once again sitting at the kitchen table. 

 

They stared at each other for a few seconds, both drinking in the other, before her father cleared his throat and finally spoke.

 

“You got someone in the cottage then?” He asked quietly.

 

Kara took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in her throat before responding.

 

“Yeah…”

 

There was another long pause before her father spoke once more.

 

“It’s that city lady, isn’t it?”

 

This was it, Kara thought. The argument to end all arguments. Raising her stress levels to astronomic once more. Sometimes the blonde did wonder how long she would be able to keep this up, the pace at which she had to live her life was slowly making her go mad.

 

“Yeah.”

 

At her answer, her father just looked down at the table with a dark frown for a few seconds before he looked back up at her face with soft eyes.

 

“How much is she paying?”

 

Kara blinked in surprise, expecting more of a fight on his part. The man hadn’t been shy about expressing his disbelief in her plan to renovate and rent out the cottage, on many occasions spitting out his disdain for her as a person in the same breath. 

 

“Three hundred a night,” she answered.

 

The man smiled at that, and for the first time in years Kara felt a glow of pride light up in her chest at his expression. 

 

“Sounds pretty reasonable to me…” He answered, before stretching back in his chair and crossing his arms, eyes zoning out into the distance. He looked pensive and lost in thought, his eyes clouded. It made Kara frown with concern. 

 

“Yeah…” she breathed out, still watching him closely.

 

He didn’t respond, and Kara pulled out one of the wonky chairs at the table, sitting across from him.

 

“Hey, Dad?” She asked softly.

 

The man’s eyes locked on hers and Kara felt a sharp pang in her heart. It was times like this when Kara couldn’t escape the fact that she was her father’s daughter. 

 

“Yes, Kara?” He replied.

 

The young farmer bit her lip, rubbing her calloused thumb across one of the deep scratches on her left arm. Remembering how it had happened. Clark and her having been bored one day and somehow got into their respective father’s hunting knives. One game of human darts later, Kara was left crying on the kitchen table while her mother stroked her hair and her father stitched her up with gentle hands.

 

So many memories of a different time, when her father had far less grey in her hair and alcohol on his breath.

 

“Are you… are you ok?” She asked.

 

He stared at her for a few minutes, his throat shifting as he took a deep breath.

 

“Yeah, I’m…. I missed you, is all,” he said quietly.

 

To her surprise, the man reached out his aging hand and covered her’s gently.

 

“You know that I love you very much, don’t you Kara?” He asked desperately.

 

She was starting to become concerned now but knew better than to push the issue on whatever was bothering him. The curse of the Zorel family was that they suffered in silence.

 

“I know Dad,” she whispered out. “I love you too.”

 

She saw the start of tears forming in his eyes as he shifted back, removing his hand and standing to his feet to cover the emotional slip. He walked towards the window and stared out over the land, taking a second to think.

 

“So, should I meet this lady then?” He asked.

 

Kara tried not to feel a flash of panic at that, hoping to God that it never happened. 

 

“Ummm,” she said instead, trying to remain calm. “Maybe just wait for her to settle in… she’s probably having a nap or something.”

 

Her father turned back to look at her with a raised eyebrow and a cocky grin.

 

“You sure?” He scoffed, pointing out the window. “Looks like she’s running around just fine.”

 

Kara rushed to her feet to look out the window too, both of them watching as Lena paced back and forth outside with her phone high in the air, apparently trying to get a signal. The blonde didn’t have time to say anything before her father was already striding out the door.

 

She ran after him, trying to head him off, but Lena had already noticed that he was approaching her with an outstretched hand.

 

“No, dad don’t-“

 

Her whisper was cut off by her father’s words.

 

“Hello there,” he said with a smile, looking decidedly out of place on his face.

 

Lena didn’t even blink, returning the smile and the handshake.

 

“Hello, Mr Zorel,” she returned. “My name’s Lena Luthor.”

 

“A pleasure to meet you, Ms Luthor,” he said charmingly, leaving Kara confused as to where her actual father had gone. “I hope you enjoy your stay here.”

 

He turned to face Kara with a smile, clapping a firm hand on her shoulder and squeezing it.

 

“My daughter’s done a good job on the place, hasn’t she?” He boasted. “She’s been working night and day, and her taste is a hell of a lot better than mine.” 

 

His eyes softened as he looked at her, speaking in a softer voice.

 

“Takes after her mother that way.”

 

Kara felt a hand clench at her heart and felt burning tears from behind her eyes and struggling to remember the last time that her father had talked about her mother. 

 

Lena watched the exchange with discerning eyes.

 

“It’s lovely,” she answered. “I don’t know if your daughter told you, but letting me stay here so quickly was very kind. I certainly appreciate it.”

 

“Her room got broken into, Dad,” Kara said to her father by way of explanation, the man frowning and giving Lena a concerned look.

 

“Oh, I’m very sorry to hear that.”

 

“It’s fine, Mr. Zorel,” the brunette replied, brushing off his sympathy. “I already filed a report with the Sheriff and I can order some more things from the city. It’s more of an inconvenience than anything.”

 

Her father nodded at her words, before pointing at the phone in her hand.

 

“You looked like you were trying to call someone?” He questioned.

 

Lena nodded.

 

“Yes, my brother,” she explained.

 

A smiled grew on his face, the crows feet around his eyes crinkling with the action.

 

“Well, on your cell the best signal is on top of a truck near that gate for some reason,” he explained, pointing. “But if you don’t want to do that, you’re more than welcome to use the landline in the house.”

 

Kara’s eyes widened, having very little desire to let Lena into their crappy and rundown house. The last thing she needed was the other woman discovering she shared her room with mice.

 

“No, Dad that’s not-“

 

Lena cut her off with a smile.

 

“I’m happy to climb,” she replied to the older man. “My brother doesn’t accept calls from numbers he doesn’t you.”

 

The older man laughed at her dry reply, making Kara stare at him like he was crazy.  


“Fair enough,” he replied, holding out his hand once more for a final shake. “Well, if there’s anything you need don’t hesitate to ask. ”

 

She took it once more.

 

“Thank you, Mr Zorel.”

 

He nodded and turned on his heel, walking back to the house, Kara’s eyes following him incredulously. It was only once the door closed behind him, that the blonde turned back to Lena with an apologetic smile.

 

“Well… that was weird,” she muttered out with a head shake. “I’m sorry.”

 

Lena just smiled at her, waving away her embarrassment.

 

“Don’t be. He was nice,” she replied.

 

Kara’s frown merely deepened at that. 

 

Her father wasn’t known for being sweet and charming, even when she was a child and he was functional. And he certainly seemed to behave as his typical self when she had talked to him last, trying to guilt her into buying him drinks.

 

Something was up.

 

“Yeah… weird,” she mumbled out, before waving Lena goodbye and walking back to the house herself.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Kara had been waiting for over a minute while Alex stared at her silently. She had driven over to the Danvers that morning for breakfast as she did nearly every day. Her redheaded best friend sensing something was on her mind had poured two cups of coffee for them to drink, while Maggie brushed past them on her way to work, leaving as fast as she could while Kara glared at her back for abandoning her to Alex's temper.

 

After explaining exactly what had happened yesterday, including the fact that Lena was now staying on the farm, the redhead just looked at her with a hard stare. And now, the blonde was slowly starting to fidget, feeling more and more on edge as time passed and the inevitable explosion crept closer.

 

Finally, Alex took a deep breath and spoke.

 

“You’re shitting me, right?” she scoffed. 

 

Kara let out an annoyed huff and crossed her arms defensively.

 

“You know I never got that phrase,” she grunted out. “But no, I’m not shitting you.”

 

Alex let out a long groan, dropping her head in her hands.

 

“I swear to Christ, Kara… what the fuck?”

 

The blonde looked away in annoyance.

 

“Look, it just happened,” she explained. “I didn’t plan for it.”

 

Alex shot to her feet, turning her back and walking away until she was standing at the edge of the porch, staring out over the flat paddock.

 

“You know what this is going to look like,” she spat out finally, turning back to look at Kara with fiery eyes. “To literally everybody. The people in our camp are going to think you’re now in bed with the enemy. And the people in her camp are just going to think you’re in _fucking_ bed with her!”

 

Kara scowled as Alex’s voice morphed into a shout.

 

“I mean, what the hell were you thinking!?”

 

The blonde stood to her feet as well, refusing to cower under Alex’s height advantage.

 

“What was I supposed to do, Alex?” She demanded. “Just let her stay in a room that had been broken into? Where all her stuff had been taken? She would’ve felt so unsafe-“

 

“Well fucking good!” Alex shouted over her. “Why in the hell are you trying to make this woman comfortable? Have you completely forgotten what she’s here to do? She wants to take your land from you, Kara. From all of us.”

 

Kara felt her hackles rise.

 

“I’m not stupid, Alex. I know what I’m doing.”

 

The redhead scoffed.

 

“I don’t think you do,” she replied with a tensed neck and lashing out. “God, this is so typical of you!”

  
“Watch it,” Kara snapped back with a warning in her voice, but Alex disregarded it quickly.

“You go in all gung ho and cocky, you overextended yourself, and then you fuck it up for the rest of us!” She screamed out. “People around here have put their trust in you to holdout, and now you’re running after her with your tongue hanging out.”

 

Kara stepped closer, closing the distance between them.

 

“Fuck off, Alex.”

 

“No!” The redhead retorted. "You fuck off, with this bullshit. You like to pretend you’ve got a clue, but you and I both know this whole thing is hanging by a thread as it is. We’re all in debt up to our eyeballs, Kara.”

 

The view in the blonde’s forehead began to twitch as if anything could make her forget their financial situation.

 

“That’s why I’m entering the rodeo, remember?” She replied. “If I can just get that, I can pay off the interest and then-“

 

“Why even fucking bother?” Alex cut her off once again with a scoff. “You weren’t even going to do it until I pushed you into it, and you’ll probably quit before it even gets started.”

 

Kara recoiled at the disdain in her friend's voice, wounded by her words.

 

“How-“

 

“Face it, Kara,” Alex said coldly. “Your heart rules your head, it always has. That's just who you are.”

 

The blonde watched her with a gaping soul, feeling like the floor had been ripped out from underneath her. Her whole life she and Alex had walked side by side in everything they did. They’d learned to talk together. They learned to ride and shoot together. When Kara’s uncle, aunt, and mother died, and Alex’s in return. Through all the shit in high school, then when Alex had turned down her college offers. 

When Alex had tearfully confessed to Kara that she was gay one night, like Kara hadn’t always known. And six months later, when the blonde told Alex, she was bi, as if Alex hadn’t known all along too. 

All the trials and hardships of the drought and the shitty people in this town, and all this what what it had come to.

 

“I don’t have time for this,” Kara whispered, turning to walk away.

 

She had already made it to her car when Alex called after her in a warning voice.

 

“You’re falling for her, Kara!” She shouted out. “And it’s only going to hurt all the more when she breaks your heart.”

 

The blonde slammed to door shut behind her, starting her truck with a roar. The wheels squealed as she floored it in reserve to turn, shouting out the window before she shifted into first.

 

“Don’t tell me how to live my life, and I won’t tell you how to live yours, ok!?” She snarled out.

 

She pressed her foot flat to the floor, almost missing Alex’s final shouted word.

 

“Fine!”

 

* * *

 

“You know I could have driven myself if you’d given me directions,” Lena said with a grumble, clutching the envelope of emergency cash she had stored in her car previously.

 

Kara gave her an amused look, a finger on the wheel to stop her truck’s gradual veer left.

 

“Yeah, sure you could’ve,” she said teasingly, before looking back at the road. “I know how you townies drive. You’d’ve been halfway to Mexico 'fore you realised you were headed in the wrong direction.”

 

Lena’s scowl deepened. Kara was convinced it was partly because Oscar’s, who had been resting his head on the brunette’s shoulder the whole ride, had begun to drool.

 

“Well, it’s not my fault Google Maps doesn’t work out here!” Lena exclaimed, leaning farther away from the dog and trying to push him off in vain. “Luthor Corp really should develop it’s own Sat Nav technology.”

 

Kara’s mood dipped at the mention of the company. 

It was easier when it was like this to just see Lena as a stranger, instead of a stranger trying to take all that she loved from her. There was enough on her mind as it was, the new additions of her father’s odd behavior and the argument with Alex prime among them, without actively keeping Lena’s job at the forefront of her mind when she looked at the brunette.

 

“Won’t be any help out here with the crap signal anyway,” Kara mumbled out.

 

There was a brief pause, and the farmer felt Lena’s eyes burning into her face.

 

“We could fund new cellphone towers, you know,” the brunette began to say in an overly chipper voice. “We could inject money into the area. The jobs Luthor Corp would bring-“

 

Kara had to stop herself from jerking the wheel off the road.

 

“Lena, please don’t try to sell me the company line,” she cut her off, too exhausted to have this conversation. “I know it’s your job, but can we just not…. talk about it right now.”

 

The brunette let out a sigh.

 

“So you’re allowed to try to convince me not to do my job,” she replied. "But I can’t do the opposite with you?”

 

“Yeah,” the blonde bit out in reply, reaching to grip the wheel so tightly with both hands that her knuckles grew white. “Pretty much.”

 

Kara took a deep breath and tried to control her emotions once more, still grimacing.

 

“Besides,” she continued. “If you bought out my land I wouldn’t exactly be hanging around.”

 

“Where would you go?” Lena asked.

 

Thoughts of a clean and depressing future living in her car came to mind. 

  
“I don’t really want to think about it.”

 

An uneasy silence settled between them, broken only by the rumble of Kara’s old truck and Oscar’s heavy panting. A few more minutes passed, the blonde slowly wondering if her offering to take Lena into town was a good idea after all, when Lena finally spoke.

 

“So,” she said with injected cheer, clearly trying to move the conversation along. “Why are we headed to Argo first?”

 

Kara swallowed the dry lump in her throat.

 

“Well, you can check in with Maggie and I need to swing by Sam’s while you do that,” she answered, turning down the main road that led to Argo. “I think she wants me to collect a package for her in Kandor and I need the slip.”

 

The rest of the drive went smoothly, the passing dry land letting off heat waves under the bright blue sky. They rumbled to a stop outside the police station, Lena jumping out while the car remained on. Kara watched as she made her way into the building, noting the curious eyes and murmurs from the group of old ladies walking down the street. 

 

Well, now she’d done it, setting the cat amongst the pigeons of this gossiping town. 

 

A few minutes later, Kara pulled up outside of Sam’s small house, turning off the engine as a shout sounded out from the building.

 

“I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!”

 

Kara winced, recognizing her goddaughter’s voice. 

 

“You think you can hit a girl, get suspended, and I’m not going to want to talk about it with you!?”

 

The blonde’s frown deepened at that. Ruby had been having it really tough the past couple of years, but getting suspended was new one. It was hard enough for Sam being a single mom in this town, trying to help her struggling daughter who refused her help was worst of all.

 

Kara walked up to the half-open door slowly, pushing it open cautiously as the sound of another door slammed through the house. 

 

“JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!”

 

The blonde turned left down the hallway. Sam was pressed against her daughter’s bedroom door; hand splayed out against it as she leaned her forehead on the wood. 

 

“Ruby…. Roo….” She choked out, fighting off tears. “I just want to know what happened. Please just tell me what happened, in your own words.”

 

Kara hesitated for a beat before coughing, the other woman whirling around at the sound. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and she looked exhausted.

 

“Hey… I’m sorry if I’m…” Kara tried to say, awkwardly waving her hand in the direction of Ruby’s room.

 

Sam sniffed, dabbing her eyes with a tissue and walking towards the blonde.

 

“Oh, hi Kara…. I just…. I…..”

 

She wasn’t able to finish the sentence, bursting into renewed tears as she all but collapsed into Kara’s arms. The farmer hugged her close, rubbing her back soothingly.

 

“Hey, now. It’s ok,” she murmured once the other woman had pulled away. “It’s ok… go and sit down and I’ll try talking to her, ok?”

 

Sam nodded, still crying as she walked towards the kitchen. Kara followed her with worried eyes, before taking a deep breath and making her own way to Ruby’s bedroom door. After a few seconds of hesitation, she raised her fist to knock.

 

“I SAID GO AWAY!”

 

Kara winced at the shout.

 

“It’s me, kid,” she murmured through the wood. “C’mon and open the door.”

 

There were a few quiet seconds, before Kara heard the sound of shuffling footsteps and Ruby yanked open the door. The blonde took in the sight of the teenager with a raised eyebrow. Her face was a mess, with a large swollen cut on her lip and a purpling black eye.

 

“Wow, kiddo,” Kara said with a low whistle.

 

Ruby nodded in reply, Kara following her back inside and closing the door behind them. The blonde looked around, taking in the sight of the messy room, with strewn clothes and punk rock posters, before returning to the teen as she sat back down on the bed. 

 

“I know… pretty impressive, right?” The girl replied, looking up at her with shining eyes.

 

Kara let out a breath, sitting next to her.

 

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” she murmured in reply.“Nothing compared to the time I got trampled a few years back.” 

 

Ruby snorted, then winced as Kara pressed a cool finger against the edges of the bruise. 

 

“But still, quite a shiner,” the blonde continued. 

 

“Yeah, well…” Ruby said weakly. “You should see the other guy.”

 

Kara watched her try to wipe a tear escaping her eye subtly. The blonde felt a flash of affection and pain at the sight.

 

“Why don’t you come out then,” she said softly. "And tell your mom what happened?”

 

Ruby groaned and fell back flat on the bed.

 

“I just can’t deal with her,” she complained. “She just… she’s all over me. She thinks I need therapy or some other bullshit. I don’t! I’m not fucking crazy.”

 

Kara let out a sigh and fell backwards too, so she could also stare up at the ceiling.

 

“Nobody said you were crazy, Roo,” the blonde replied. “But you know, sometimes therapy can be helpful to deal with stuff.”

 

“Oh yeah?” Ruby snorted, twisting her head to look at Kara. “Have you ever been to therapy?”

 

Kara couldn’t help the flash of defensiveness and almost snorted at the irony.

 

“You got me there,” she said easily. “But I never said I was a role model, did I?”

 

Ruby rested her head on Kara’s shoulder.

 

“Nah,” she whispered out. “You’re way too much fun.”

 

The blonde tried not to scoff at that. She didn’t feel like much fun these days, worried about everything from money, to the drought to the fact that she had a crush on someone who was one hundred per cent wrong for her. 

 

“That’s me, fun Kara,” she murmured, before her voice picked up in volume. “Now c’mon. Are you gonna tell me what happened or not? Who did you hit?”

 

Ruby sighed, before replying.

 

“It was Erika Morrison.”

 

Kara winced at the last name. The Morrison’s were one of those annoying legacy families, floating around the hallway of Kandor High and always rising to the top of any social situation. The had enought athletic prowess to skate by with their bad grades, and enough inbreeding to make life a living hell for everyone else. 

 

“Oooff…” Kara lamented. “If she’s anything like her uncle, I bet she deserved it.”

 

Ruby let out an incredulous laugh.

 

“Aren’t you supposed to tell me violence isn’t the answer?”

 

Kara shrugged.  


“Well yeah,” she sniffed. “But it’s still true.”

 

The girl let out a sigh at that. 

 

“Yeah….”

 

The blonde felt her stomach sink at the despair in her goddaughter’s voice. She reached out her hand to take Ruby’s tightly.

 

“Is she the one whose been sending you those fucking notes this past year?”

 

Ruby hesitated before nodding, and Kara felt a flash of rage, wishing at that moment that she could kick Erika Morrison’s ass personally. For the past year, Ruby had been getting anonymous letters shoved in her locker, calling her foul names and telling her she should kill herself. The only reason Kara found out about them was when Ruby had left her backpack in her truck one time, and Kara opened it to get out her lunch before it went bad in the heat. 

 

The pack of notes had fallen out. 

 

“She…. she’s always saying stuff about my mom,” Ruby continued in a broken voice. “But never as bad as yesterday…. she found out I was failing math, and she said it didn’t matter cause I was going to get knocked up and drop out anyway. Just like Mom.”

 

Kara let out a low growl.

 

“Fucking cows.”

 

“Kara!”

 

The blonde shrugged.

 

“What?” She cried out, before letting out a heavy breath. 

 

“Sorry…. then what happened?”

 

Ruby seemed to struggle for a few minutes, before the explanation fell out of her.

 

“I just…. I just wanted her to shut up, you know? They’re always laughing at me and making fun of me, and it just hurt so fucking much, Kara.” 

 

Ruby began to cry into her shoulder, and Kara let out a comforting sound.

 

“It just hurts so much,” the girl continued. “I can’t deal anymore. I just…. she said it, and I just saw red. I just wanted her to shut up and the next thing I know I hit her, straight in the face.”

 

Kara reached out to touch the edge of Ruby’s eye once more.

 

“And this?”

 

“Her boyfriend did it, and then I got suspended,” she mumbled out, still crying. “Kara, they didn’t…. he only got detention, and they said that her parents might pursue assault charges against me.” 

 

Kara closed her eyes, feeling the girl’s pain in her heart.

 

“I’ve been telling them for years what's been happening to me, and they’ve never done anything. I asked why nothing ever happened to her, and they said that I was the one at fault. Cause I skip school and I’m ‘anti-social’.”

 

The blonde felt like burning that school to the ground.

 

"I just feel so fucking small at that place, and I hate it there,” Ruby contoured. “I hate it. A part of me just wants to drop out like you did. Like Mom did.”

 

“Well firstly,” Kara replied."What they said wasn’t true. Your Mom graduated with fucking honors, alright? And she worked her ass off while everyone at that fucking school doubted her.”

 

Kara’s eyes burned with tears at the memory. 

 

“She did it after she was kicked out of home. None of those little bastards has a tenth of the strength your mom has, and they don’t have any of the heart you do, ok?”

 

Ruby struggled to sit up, standing to her feet as if Kara’s fierce words had burned her. 

 

“Don’t you get it? I screwed up!” She shouted angrily. “That’s what I always do. I’m just a screwup. And just when for two seconds I think I’m doing something right, I just…. forget it.”

 

Kara stood up as well, reaching out the grip the teens shoulders.

 

“You’re an incredible kid, you hear me?” She said forcefully. “A fucking legend. You’ve got the makings of greatness in you, but you got to take charge of your own destiny.” 

 

The girl’s eyes filled with tears.

 

“I know it seems like the world is crashing down on you now,” Kara continued softer. "And believe me when I say I know how you feel. But you can’t give in to that despair; you just can’t give these fuckers the satisfaction. The best revenge is going to be living well. Cause you’re worth a million of them Ruby. You really are.”

 

She reached out to touch the bottom of Ruby’s chin.

 

“And you know you’ve always got me and your mom and the rest of your family in your corner. We all believe in you, kid. So much. And I’m going to be right by your side until you believe in you too.”

 

Ruby sniffed, more tears falling as she reached out and pulled the farmer into a tight hug.

 

“But what if I let you down…”

 

Kara smiled wetly.

 

“You’ll never let me down,” She whispered into the teen’s hair. "I love you too much. I just want you to be happy, kid. I know it seems impossible right now, but there is so much life left to live for.”

 

Ruby nodded into her shoulder before pulling away and wiping her face.

 

“Yeah… I get it.”

 

Kara let out a breath, willing herself not to fall apart too, and clapped the girl on the shoulder.

 

“Come on,” she said, pulling open the bedroom door. “Let’s go talk to your Mom.”

 

Ruby nodded and followed her down the hall, rounding the corner, and they spotted Sam sitting dejectedly at the kitchen table with a cup of tea in her hands. The woman looked up as they entered, watching her daughter with soft eyes.

 

“Mom,” Ruby mumbled out dejectedly.“I’m… sorry.”

 

Sam stood to her feet quietly and reached out to pull her daughter into a hug. They both held each other, swaying for a bit, before Sam pulled back so she could see her daughter’s face properly.

 

“Are you ok?” She asked.

 

“Yeah,” Ruby replied with a nod. “I’m ok.”

 

“Good…” The older woman breathed out, letting her daughter go. “That’s the most important thing.”

 

There was still a tension heavy in the air between them, and Kara shuffled her feet before an idea grew in her mind.

 

“Hey, Sam?” She called out. "I just came by to pick up that package slip from you. I’m headed into Kandor today.”

 

“Oh,” Sam said distractedly. “I got it yesterday when I had to pick up….” 

 

Her eyes flickered to her daughter and then back to Kara.

 

“I got it yesterday.”

 

“Well, I was thinking,” the blonde continued. “Maybe Ruby could come with Lena and me then. Might be good to get out on a drive.”

 

Sam’s eyebrow arched at the namedrop.

 

“I heard that she’s staying with you.”

 

Kara tried not to groan at the sly note in Sam’s voice.

 

“She’s not… She’s staying in the cottage,” she muttered out. “It’s purely business.”

 

Sam and Ruby snorted, making Kara glare at them both.

 

“Sure it is,” Sam dragged out, before giving her daughter a wary look. “Well, what do you think about that Roo?”

 

The girl hesitated, before looking at Kara and nodded.

 

“Yeah…. sounds fun.”

 

“Come on then, kid, ’fore Lena starts looking for us,” Kara said.“She’d probably take a wrong turn and end up in a grain silo. Actually, on second thought….”

 

Ruby snorted.

 

“Ok, let’s go.”

 

Sam mouthed ‘thank you’ to Kara when Ruby rushed out the door, and the blonde tipped her hat in return. The both of them jumped in the truck, turning it on and drove back to the center of town where Lena was waiting outside the station.

 

“There you are,” she called when they rolled up. “I’ve just had three ladies try to ask me questions about why I’m staying with you.”

 

“Oh,” Ruby said with a smirk. “So you _are_ staying with Kara?”

 

“No she’s not!” The blonde bit out, shoving Ruby’s shoulder. “She’s staying in the cottage. It’s a business arrangement.”

 

“Sure…” Ruby drawled, before turning back to face the brunette woman with a smile. “Alright, then Lena?”

 

The woman cocked her eyebrow at the girl.

 

“I gather you’re coming with us today?”

 

“Yeah, that a problem?” She asked, before grinning evilly at Kara once more. “You like more time alone with-“

 

“Shut it, kid,” Kara shouted over her. "And get in the back! Guests take shotgun.”

 

“Aww, not with Oscar!” The girl complained as she exited, leaving the door open for Lena to take. “He’s going to drool all over me!”

 

Kara snorted, entirely unsympathetic.

 

“Tough it out.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

A couple of hours later, after Kara had to endure the torture that it was shopping with Lena, the brunette decided to treat both the blonde and Ruby to lunch. Kara tried to insist it wasn’t necessary, but her stomach was already growling by the time they arrived in Kandor.

 

After Kara had finished, she dropped her fork and knife to the plate with a clatter that made Lena wince.

 

“Well, I can’t actually remember the last time someone paid for my food at a proper restaurant,” she mused, her pants feeling unusually tight.

 

“Probably never,” Ruby said with a snort, taking a sip of her drink. “You’re feral Kara.”

 

The blonde scolded and chucked a napkin at the girl’s head, Ruby dodging it with a laugh.

 

“How did I get stuck with a monster like you for a goddaughter?” Kara complained.

 

Lena watched the exchange silently, and when Kara turned to look at her, the woman gave her a soft smile that sent heat straight to Kara’s face. 

 

The silent exchange was broken when Ruby let out a curse.

 

“Fuck…. it’s Erica,” she muttered hunching over to try and hide her face.

 

Of course, despite Ruby’s protests, both women turned their heads to see a peroxide blonde teen standing with her group of friends, texting on their phones and looking very much like a mob of cows staring mindlessly at a fencepost.

 

Lena turned back to face Ruby with a questioning frown.

 

“Is that the girl you….” 

 

She trailed off, gesturing to Ruby’s face.

 

The teen nodded looking back at Erika and her crowd of friends.

 

“Yeah.”

 

Lena nodded, having heard the tale of what happened in the truck, and turned back to face the blonde teen.

 

“Hey!” She called out. “Hey, you!”

 

The girl looked around with a sneer, noticing that Lena was waving her over. After a brief pause, and a loud sigh, she began to strut toward them. Her friends not even looking up from their phones at her absence. 

 

“Lena,” Ruby hissed out, panicked. “What the fuck are you doing!?”

 

Her words cut off when Erika appeared next to their table, looking over Ruby with a sneer before turning her dull brown eyes to Lena’s.

 

“Can I help you?” She breathed out, as if she had graced them with her presence.

 

Kara frowned, ready to stand up and rip the teen a new one. But Lena placed a hand on her leg, hidden underneath the table, making the blonde sit and flush at the feeling.

 

“You can actually,” Lena said pleasantly, but with eyes as cold as a shark. “You can apologise to my friend here.”

 

Ruby choked on thin air, and Erika gave her an incredulous look.

 

“Apologise?!” She cried, affronted. “The bitch attacked me! She should be on a fucking leash. My father is going to press charges!”

 

Kara’s eyes narrowed but remained in her place when Lena pinched her leg.

 

“Oh, that’s funny,” the brunette said airily. “Because we were just thinking of doing the same thing.”

 

Ruby gave Lena a wide eyed look as Erika spluttered.

 

“Who the hell do you think you are?” 

 

“Threatening, harassment, intention to commit emotional harm…” Lena listed out on her fingers, the smile never leaving her face as her voice grew colder. “All grave accusations.”

 

The blonde teenager’s lip curled.

 

“You can’t threaten me.”

 

At that, Lena let out a cold laugh and her smile finally died. A chill seemed to emanate from her body, and it made even Kara want to wear a jacket even in this heat.

 

“Oh I can, and I will,” she purred out, Erika having the good sense to look cowered. “You see, my name is Lena Luthor. Perhaps you’ve heard of me? Or not, I wouldn’t expect you to retain any actual information, given your limited IQ.” 

 

Kara couldn’t help but snort at that, and Ruby stared at Lena like she was a goddess. 

 

“But my brother,” the brunette woman continued. “The CEO of Luthor Corp, which just happens to be a Fortune 500 company, has had a bit of legal trouble over the years. So he has this entire legal department full of cutthroat attorneys who would sell their mother’s souls to make me happy.” 

 

The blonde teen's face paled.

 

“Frankly, I can’t think of anything I’d like to do right now ahead of ruining your life,” Lena finished cruely. “Do I make myself clear?”

 

There was a slight pause before Erika finally dropped her phone to her side.

 

“Yes, ma’am,” she sounded in a small voice.

 

“Good,” Lena said briskly. “You and your friends are going to leave Ruby alone. You’re going to tell your father and the school that your started the fight, and you’re going to apologise to her, right here and now.”

 

Erika looked like she would rather jump off a cliff than do anything Lena had just said, but she still turned to look at the seated teen. 

 

“Ruby-“

 

Lena cut her off once more.

 

“Oh no, darling,” she said icily. “You’re not worthy of calling her by her first name. See, being on a first name basis with someone means that you respect them mutually. And Ruby doesn’t respect you. You call her Ms Arias.”

 

Kara turned to give Lena a look, understanding now why the woman had such a strong desire to be called her professional name by people. And felt oddly flattered she didn't expect that of Kara.

 

“Ms Arias,” Erika bit out, redrawing the farmer’s attention. “I’m sorry.”

 

Lena tutted.  


“You can do better than that, surely.”

 

Erika looked at her with murderous eyes, but the brunette woman didn’t seem affected at all. Finally, the teen looked back at Ruby and bit out the rest of her reply.

 

“I’m sorry about the fight, and for saying all that stuff about you and your mom. I won’t do it again.”  


“And none of your friends are going to do it again  either, are they?”

 

Erika gritted her teeth.

 

“No.”

 

At that, the cold seemed to disappear, and another bright smile crossed Lena’s face.

 

“Well great!” She exclaimed. “What do you think Ruby? Think she’ll keep her word?”

 

Ruby turned to look up at Erika, silently staring at her for a full minute with emotions warring in her eyes, before she nodded and replied.

 

“We’ll see.”

 

Lena nodded once more.

 

“Yes, we will,” she sounded, before looking at Erika once more.“Until then, just know that even when I leave, Ms Arias is going to have my personal cell number. Just in case you try any of this shit again. Clear?”

 

Erika nodded tightly.

 

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

“Good,” Lena answered with a saccharinely sweet voice, dismissing the teen with a wave of her hand. “Have a great Saturday.”

 

The blonde all but sprinted back to her friends, the gaggle of girls finally looking up from their phones and following along until she disappeared around a corner.

 

The second she vanished, Kara turned to look at the brunette with a raised eyebrow.

 

“What the hell was that?”

 

Lena wasn’t given a chance to reply, instead almost being bowled over by an enthusiastic teenager as Ruby gave her a tight hug around her neck.

 

“That was awesome!” She yelled out loudly, making Kara wince for Lena’s eardrums. “Oh my God, the way you just tore her to shreds like that…. I’ve never seen anybody do that before. Thank you so much.”

 

Lena gave Kara a wide-eyed look, while she patted Ruby awkwardly on the back. 

 

“No need to thank me, darling,” she replied. “I’ve dealt with my fair share of horrendous cows in my day.”

 

Ruby shoulders began to shake, and when she pulled away, Kara realised that she had started to cry.

 

“No, you don’t get it,” she answered under both women’s soft eyes. “Those girls made me…..”

 

Her voice trailed off, and she began to sob in earnest.

 

“Listen to me, Ruby,” Lena said quietly, leaning closer to the girl and taking her hand in her’s. “They are never going to bother you again, ok? You have my word. If anyone starts to, you call me right away and I _will_ answer.”

 

Ruby nodded tearfully.

 

“Thank you,” she whispered out, before bolting up and sprinting to the toilet, almost making a waiter fall in her rush.

 

Lena stared after her with concern, but Kara just watched in awe. The warmth in her soul that the other woman had sparked, doubling in size. After a few seconds, the brunette noticed her looking and raised a questioning eyebrow.

 

“You know,” Kara said with a knowing smile. “For someone who thinks they’re cold and heartless, you seem to care pretty damn much about a kid you don’t really know.”

 

The blonde was delighted when a slight flush grew in Lena’s cheeks.

 

“Who says I don’t know her?” The brunette replied. “She’s me at that age. Maybe I’m just getting petty revenge for my teenage self.”

 

Kara shook her head slowly.

 

“Yeah… and maybe you’re just a nice person,” she teased, laughing as Lena grew more and more defensive in her posture.  


“I’m really not.”

 

The blonde scoffed at Lena’s stern face, throwing a napkin at her head.

 

“Whatever you say, Mrs Shark,” Kara laughed as the other woman spluttered.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Dropping Ruby back home took nearly an hour,Lena explaining to Sam what had happened, handing the woman her business card.

 

“If they try to take you to court, or those girl’s bother her again, call me. You have my word that I’ll help you handle it,” the brunette said to the stunned mother.

 

Sam blinked at it for a few seconds, before wrapping Lena in a bone-crushing hug and bursting into tears, mimicking her daughter’s actions. The green-eyed woman had glared over Sam’s shoulder at Kara, who was struggling to contain her laugh at Lena’s shocked expression. 

 

A long while later, after many profuse thank you’s and offers to feed Lena night and day for the rest of her stay and after the brunette refused, having no less than two cakes and five jam jars shoved in her hands, they were finally allowed to leave.

 

They were halfway back to the farm when Lena turned to Kara with cakes stacked on her knees and spoke.

 

“You know who her father is, don’t you?”

 

Kara frowned out at the setting sun, thinking of all the hell the man had put Sam through over the years because he refused to acknowledge Ruby. Not that she had ever needed him. Sam was an excellent mother, and the girl had a whole host of real family to rely on. But it was still hard sometimes to look at the girl when she was wearing the same sneakers for the second year in a row, and wonder at all the money she had been denied.

 

After all, Kara knew better than anyone that although money didn’t by happiness, she’d rather cry herself to sleep with a full stomach than starving.

 

“Yeah… I know who he is,” she whispered out in reply.

 

Lena nodded.

 

“Is it something that everyone in town knows? The one shameful secret that nobody actually talks about?”

 

Kara grimaced.

 

“You’ll find that when a teenage girl gets pregnant around here, people focus far less on who the father is in favour of treating the girl like a slut the rest of her life,” she spat out. “It’s funny how the girl is always the one at fault like it didn’t take two people to make a baby.”

 

Lena scowled too.

 

“Yet another charming attitude of rural people.”

 

Kara scoffed at her words.

 

“Oh come off it, Lena. Are you seriously telling me that if you came home from your fancy boarding school pregnant one day, your mother wouldn’t go ballistic?” She questioned incredulously. 

 

When Lena gave a conceding nod, Kara continued.

 

“Shaming women for having sex is universal, no matter where you live.”

 

The brunette stared at her for a few more seconds silently before speaking.

 

“You have a lot of strong opinions; you know that? And you’re not afraid to say them out loud.”

 

Kara laughed at that. 

 

“I’m not standing on a soapbox, Lena. I just think what I think,” she said with a shrug, turning into Solitude’s driveway. "Maybe you’re just used to having conversations with either a bunch of ‘Yes Men’ or sexists, that you’ve forgotten what it’s like to be challenged appropriately.”

 

Lena watched her for a few more seconds as they pulled to a stop outside of the cottage, waiting until Kara turned off the key before she replied.

 

“I think you might be right.”

 

Kara smiled at that, sitting in comfortable silence as the sun slowly dipped below to horizon and cast long shadows on the ground. It was like there was a new current between them. A breath that had yet to be released. Kara wad oddly reminded of the time when she was ten years old, and had tried to duck underneath a fence, forgetting that it was electric.

 

The low, humming buzz that had sounded before she touched it, and the stunning, sharp shock afterwards. 

 

“So Lena….” The blonde said lowly, trying not to choke on her words. “Now that you’ve got some new threads, you probably feel all fancy. Maybe you want to take them out for a spin?”

 

Lena let out a beautiful laugh that made parts of Kara ache with the sound.

 

“I would hardly call the high-end country range at Target, ‘fancy clothes’,” she replied.

 

Kara shrugged, honestly thinking that Lena would look good in a burlap sack if she wanted to wear it.

 

“All the same,” she said nervously, her fingers tapping rapidly on her knee. “I thought maybe I could cook you dinner tonight… Like a proper dinner, you and me.”

 

Kara bit her lip, knowing she was probably pushing her luck with Lena. After the conversation that had yesterday and the considerable emotional rollercoaster they seemed to be riding together in general, Kara wouldn’t blame her at all for turning her down.

 

But the idea of that rejection already hurt like a son of a bitch.

 

“For someone who insists they can’t cook,” Lena said amusedly, Kara feeling her heavy gaze on her cheek. “You seem to offer to make my meals a lot.”

 

The blonde flushed at that tuning to look at Lena properly.

 

“No, I just… I know how to make some stuff well,” she mumbled out. “There was a French backpacker working for Cat a few summers ago, and she taught me a few things.”

 

Lena burst into laughter.

 

“Oh, I bet she did,” she replied slyly, making Kara turn red from nape to neck.

 

“Not like that!” The farmer protested over the cackling. “Well…. not just like that. Stop laughing.”

 

At her final grumble, Lena reached her fingers out to smooth the pout on Kara’s lips. 

 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. "You’re just so easy to fluster today.”

 

Kara stared at her for a bit, lost in the other woman’s green eyes, before she regained her senses slightly.

 

“Shut up…” She muttered out. “I’m just saying, I can make a mean creme brûlée, and I did buy all the ingredients for it.”

 

Lena gave her a knowing look.

 

“So that was why you were rushing off to the store while I was looking at clothes.”

 

Kara bit her tongue. That may have been part of the reason, but it was mostly because she was slowly going insane while Lena compared two different shirts to each other for a full five minutes, proclaiming that clothes were a reflection of their wearer and needed to be chosen with care. 

 

Something Kara couldn’t wrap her head around, considering just two minutes before Lena had said everything on display had been pulled out of the bargain bin.

 

“Yeah…. I mean,” The blonde said awkwardly, prepared to flee the truck. "You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

 

I’ll just die from embarrassment and stare at my water stained ceiling the rest of the night, she thought.

 

“Are you trying to wine and dine me, Kara?” 

 

Kara swallowed hard at Lena’s words, sneaking a peek at the other woman’s blank face.

 

“Is it wrong if I say yes?” She asked weakly.

 

The brunette let out a sigh, and Kara felt her heart sink slightly.

 

“Kara, we talked about this.”

 

The farmer cut her off in a rush.

 

“I know we did,” she explained. “But I just….”

 

She firmed her spine under Lena’s disbelieving eyes.

 

“Look,” Kara continued. “I get that this shit is complicated and messy, but my life is always complicated and messy. And I get the feeling that your’s is as well.”

 

That brought a sad smile to the other woman’s face, and Kara felt her confidence returning.

 

“And I do like you, Lena, I won’t deny it,” she continued. “But all I’m talking about is dinner, anyway. Nothing else has to happen. No strings, ok?”

 

Honestly, Kara meant every word. While Lena fascinated her and was slowly becoming the sole obsession on her mind, if the brunette didn’t want to go there Kara would respect her wishes. Just getting to understand the other woman more would be honour enough. 

 

The blonde stared at the brunette earnestly, trying to read Lena’s blank face, when finally she spoke.

 

“What kind of wine did you buy?”

 

Kara smiled, the mood lightening.

 

“You should be pleased,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows. “I bought two grades above paint thinner quality.”

 

Lena clutched at her chest dramatically as Kara laughed.

 

“A whole two grades?” She exclaimed. “Well consider me impressed.”

 

The blonde watched her for a few, before speaking earnestly once more.

 

“So… is that a yes?”

 

Lena smiled.

 

“It’s a yes.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“How on earth can you say you can’t cook?” Lena exclaimed with a moan, leaning back in her chair. “That was incredible! I’ve had creme brûlées in Paris that weren’t as good.”

 

Kara looked around wobbly at the disaster zone of the cottage’s kitchenette, taking in the sight of used pans and dishes, as well as the empty bottles of wine in front of them.

 

“What’s it like?” She suddenly asked, willing her thoughts away as Lena beamed naturally at her.

 

“Paris?”

 

The farmer nodded, remembering the pictures she had once seen in an encyclopaedia of the Eiffel Tower.

 

“Yeah.”

 

Lena took a moment to gather her thoughts, her eyes becoming slightly unfocused.

 

“Well, it’s…. It’s everything you think it is, but it’s also more,” she explained with a longing breath. “The food, the culture… The French can be so rude and so polite all in one breath. They’re revolutionaries at heart, which makes for a passionate city.”

 

Kara closed her eyes, trying to imagine such a foreign place. It sounded so romantic and removed from her everyday life that the blonde felt a pang of wistfulness knowing that she would never get to see it. 

 

“That sounds… incredible,” she said sadly.

 

Lena watched her quietly for a few beats.

 

“Tell me the truth, Kara,” she asked slightly more soberly. “Do you ever wish you were somewhere else than here?”

 

The blonde rocked back in her chair and thought about the question seriously, taking her time to ponder it from all the angles before she formulated her reply.

 

“Sometimes…” She breathed out honestly. “Sometimes, I imagine trying all those different things.”

 

Kara smiled at the other woman.

 

“Like from what you told me tonight about your life! I mean holy shit!” She proclaimed, gesturing widely. “Meeting all those famous people, and seeing all that art and life. Going skydiving and swimming on the Great Barrier Reef… It just sounds so glamorous. You’ve done things that I know I’ll probably never do.”

 

It didn’t hurt, the truth for Kara rarely did. It was merely a reality of circumstance. 

 

“I know I’m limited here.”

 

Lena watched her for a few seconds, her eyes filling with enough sympathy to make even Kara feel uncomfortable under the fog of the wine.

 

“I don’t think I could live feeling that trapped,” Lena confessed out loud.

 

The farmer frowned, shaking her head as a small smile grew in her face.

 

“But I’m not just trapped, you see?” Kara answered. 

 

Lena just looked at her as the blonde struggled with how to word it.

 

“I’m…. there are things that my life will hold,” she began. “Things that I’ll do that you’ll never get to experience either. I mean, it’s not glamorous but…. Have you ever pulled a calf out of a cow during labour, with only a bit of rope wrapped around the back of a truck?” She asked, standing to her feet so she could gestate widely.

 

“Or spent months of your life building a relationship with a dog and teaching it how to muster livestock?” She laughed, remembering the pride she felt when Oscar had brought in a thousand head of cattle all by himself. 

 

“You’ll never be able to spread your fingers in the dirt and feel it in your soul, that you belong on a place,” she continued passionately. “Or even build a fence with your bare hands, and have that tangible proof that you’ve tamed a bit of wild land.”

 

Her voice quieted as she sat back down, not faltering under Lena’s quiet stare.

 

“You’ll never get those experiences, and I’m blessed to have them.” 

 

Lena didn’t reply, just watched her face as Kara grew slightly uneasy in the silence.

 

“Besides,” Kara continued, trying to redirect the conversation. “Weren’t you trapped in your marriage? Or in the expectations of your family?”

 

Lena let out a dry laugh.

  
“Trapped by my marriage? No. Trapped by divorce? Yes.”

 

Kara caught the flash of bitterness and pain that crossed Lena’s face, and her interest was piqued.

 

“What was that like?” She asked wondrously. “Finding someone who you thought was your soulmate.”

 

The drink was settling over her mind like a fog, but Kara still stopped the vomit of words that threatened to follow.

 

Did it feel like this with her? Do you feel what I feel? Like I might die if I don’t get to see you every day?

 

“Well,” Lena spoke, cutting through Kara’s haze. “Firstly I don’t believe in soulmates.”

 

The blonde’s mouth dropped.

 

“What? How can you not believe in soulmates!?”

 

Lena didn’t seem phased by the blonde’s shock.

 

“Have you met me? I’m the most cynical, heartless-“

 

Kara groaned, rolled her head dramatically as she waved away Lena’s words.

 

“Yeah, yeah. Blah, blah…” She trailed off, eyeing Lena’s blurry form. “We both know it’s not true.”

 

Lena didn’t seem to hear her, face darkening with sadness as she became lost in her own memory.

 

“But I did love her,” she whispered out, sounding more broken than Kara had ever heard her. “More than anything in the world, I loved her.” 

 

She moved her hands as if she was painting in the air.

 

“And I just saw it with her, a whole life we could live together,” she explained. “I think that hurt most of all. Because in the end, she didn’t see that. It was just me, deluding myself.”

 

Kara felt like crying at the bitterness in the way Lena referred to herself. She reached out her hand to take the brunette’s tightly, drawing her attention.

 

“That’s not fair. You have a right to want that,” Kara said firmly. “You deserve to have someone who just looks at you, and you just know that they love you.”

 

Under Lena’s sceptical gaze, Kara struggled to explain.

 

“Like everything they do in their day,” she continued. “They do a just a little more deliberately because they always have you in the back if their mind.”

 

Lena stared at her silently, and Kara felt a pang of longing as she squeezed their joined hands.

 

“You deserve it. I mean, you really are incredible,” she admitted, the words unable to stop. “You’re so smart. Like not just academically. You see people, and you see the heart of them. And yes, you can be callous and blunt and maybe even cruel. But you’re not cruel just for cruelties sake.”

 

Kara could see it in her mind, the way that Lena moved. Every line and every curve.

 

"You don’t care about a lot of people, and you keep them at bay,” the blonde continued hoarsely. “Because the people you do care about are let so close to your heart, they could destroy you with a single word. And God, you’re so fucking beautiful. I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as beautiful as you.” 

 

Kara reached out her free hand to trace the hard edge of Lena’s cheek, wondering if this was what it felt like to look upon a fairy queen.

 

“When I see you,” she husked out. “Sometimes I have to close my eyes because I get a little lost in you. You make me feel like the rain has finally come.” 

 

Kara closed her eyes now, seeing it all in her mind.

 

“That feeling when you’re curled up under the covers, and you can hear it falling on the roof. That’s you.”

 

She opened them again and just stared.

 

“It’s the best feeling in the world.”

 

There was a long pause, both of them just staring at the other before Lena let out a distracted cough and averted her gaze.

 

“My god,” she muttered out. "You’re so drunk right now.”

 

The farmed felt sad. She didn’t want Lena to do that. To just disregard the truth when it was sounded out loud. To shift it away in contrast to criticism.

 

“No! I'm honest!” Kara proclaimed forcefully. “You’re just…. You’re just….. amazing. And I fucking love that you’re not perfect and you have a temper and that we argue,” she admitted.

 

“I love it. It makes me feel alive.”

 

Kara felt tears began to burn behind her eyes as her own walled-off sorrow began to rise.

 

“I’d forgotten what it was like to feel like that until you came into my life,” she admitted in a whisper. “I feel more passionate about everything. It’s like I appreciate everything more than I ever had. I think I had just learned to shut off after a while…. Everything was just piling up more and more and I just…. It was all… “

 

The words trailed off because Kara had never explained it to anyone. It was such a different pain that came from living the life she lived. Like the home that held your heart, was the anchor around your neck and the wings beneath your wings. And it all felt so fleeting and ancient at the same time.

 

What words could explain that feeling?

 

“It’s alright, Kara,” Lena whispered out. “You don’t have to be strong all the time.”

 

The blonde hid her eyes behind her hand as she started to cry.

 

“But I do,” she exclaimed bitterly. “I have so much counting on me. If I’m not giving my all to hold it up, it’ll come crashing down and hurt so many people.”

 

Alex’s words ringing in her mind and the guilt began to rise.

 

“It’s just so hard, you know?” She said hoarsely, dropping her hand to look at Lena properly as she admitted her deepest fears. "My family is completely broken. We used to be so strong, because we were together. We could face anything that life threw at us. Then my aunt and uncle died and my dad just got worse and worse, and nobody realised that my mom….”

 

The image of her mother lying on the ground made Kara’s heart skip a beat.

  
“Kara…,” Lena whispered out, but the blonde pushed the kindness away.

 

“I was the one who found her,” she admitted burningly, needing to talk about it properly for the first time in her life. “I was the one who saw her dead with the pill bottle beside her. And there wasn’t…. she didn’t even leave a note,” she said painfully.

 

"I sometimes wonder if she ever really cared?” Kara continued. “I mean what kind of a mother would do that and do it where their kid could find them? I’m never going to really know why she did it. I’m never going to get closure for that. And it just ruined what was left of my family.” 

 

Kara swallowed, hard.

 

“Clark left and never looked back, and my dad just… well, you’ve seen my dad,” she mutters out. “The way he drinks and drinks and drinks… The worst part is I can still see the real him in there sometimes, clawing to get out. But it’s like he’s drowned a little more each day.”

 

The fights, the screaming, the guilt.

 

“I hate that I hate him,” she spat out through tears. “I hate that I resent him, because even though he’s not a bad person, I can’t help but feel that he _is_ for doing this to _me_.” 

 

Once all the words were finally out, Kara felt an empty hollow in her chest as she struggled to regain her emotional footing.

 

“But I guess it’s not really something you could understand,” she finished.

 

Lena looked at her for a few minutes quietly, before speaking in a soft voice.

 

“My father was an alcoholic, Kara,” she admitted. “And it made him mean. He was always good to me; I was the apple of his eye. But he used to hit my brother.”

 

Kara’s eyes widened in horror at the thought.

 

“My Dad never-“

 

“I’m not saying he would,” Lena said, cutting her off, eyes haunted with her own painful memories. “I just… I understand. I’m not pitying you; I’m empathising. Having to stand by while your parent drinks themselves into oblivion is a special kind of hell, especially when your relationship with them is already complicated.” 

 

Kara felt the words in her soul.

 

“You love them, but you hate them at the same time,” Lena continued. “I can’t even imagine how much more difficult it must be for you given your financial situation. You don’t deserve this.”

 

Kara let out a sigh, heaviness returning.

 

“It’s my lot in life.”

 

Suddenly, Lena gripped her chin and forced her to look at her directly.

 

“No, Kara,” she said fiercely. “I need you to repeat it to me. Say it aloud. ‘I’m worth more than my father’s choices’.”

 

The blonde felt as if she was suddenly struck by lightning.

 

“I’m worth more than my father’s choices,” she breathed out.

 

“I am not my family, I am me.”

 

“I am not my family,” the farmer repeated. “I am me.”

 

Lena let out a breath.

 

“I am not defined by anyone else,” she said softly.

 

Kara's eyes darted down to Lena’s lips. 

 

“I am not defined by anyone else,” the blonde whispered, the words lingering in the air between them.

 

The moonlight cast strange shadows through the darkened room, dancing across Lena’s pale features and given them an effervescent glow and Kara could no longer contain herself. The turmoil of emotions she had burning in her bubbled up into one single need and desire.

 

Her eyes flickered down to the brunette’s lips for half a second before meeting the other woman’s eyes.

 

The other woman seemed to guess her intent, her mouth parting slightly as the blonde moved fast to capture it with her own. It was hard and deep, Lena obviously was taken by surprise before she let out a groan and parted her mouth further allowing the blonde farmer entry.

 

It felt like electricity between them, as if the lightning of tension that had been growing ever since they first laid eyes on each other in that meeting room, had finally exploded in a booming crack.

 

Kara pushed the woman in her arms backward as Lena’s hands found purchase on her waist and pulled at the tails of her shirt, her palms seeming to burn the farmer’s skin when they finally made contact. 

 

“I’m sorry,” Kara said, pulling away slightly. “I didn’t mean to-“

 

“Just shut up and kiss me,” the brunette replied, cutting her off.

 

The blonde was happy to comply, and Lena let out a huff when the blonde pushed her against the wall, hard and Kara smiling against her mouth before kissing her once more. The other woman regained her breath, using the limited space she had to pull the farmer’s shirt open and peeled it off her body. Her nails raked across the blonde’s back, making Kara shiver slightly as sweat beaded on her brow from the raised temperature between them.

 

The farmer hooked her hands under the other woman’s legs, lifting her up with a display of strength that made Lena laugh, all so that she could wrap her thighs around the blonde’s waist.

 

“You’ve done this before,” the brunette whispered when they finally broke for proper breath, both panting against the other’s shoulders.

 

Kara pulled back slightly so she could press a gentle kiss against Lena’s collarbone, tasting the tang of salt.

 

“Not for a while,” she hummed out when she heard the brunette's breath hitch, Lena threading her fingers now through the hair at the nape of the blonde’s neck.

 

“And not with anyone as stunning as you,” Kara confessed.

 

Lena let out a deep laugh, her eyes dark as her head lolled back against the wall.

 

“How did I know you were a flirt?” She replied, speaking more to herself than Kara as she looked down at the farmer.

 

They stared at each other silently for a few seconds, reality returning slightly.

 

“This can’t…” Lena began quietly before swallowing hard. “This can’t mean anything.”

 

The blonde frowned, but the other woman continued to speak before she could reply.

 

“This is the first time I’ve slept with anyone since my ex-wife,” she admitted. “But it can’t… it’s just-“

 

Kara softened, and she pressed a sweet kiss against the emotionally struggling woman’s mouth.

 

“I get it,” she answered afterwards. “No strings.”

 

Lena watched her quietly for a breath, before nodding and pressing her forehead against the blonde's.

 

“No strings,” she whispered back, before Kara carried her to the bed and laid her down gently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this chapter worth the wait? Let me know in the comments below!
> 
> ALSO, NOW THERE IS A PLAYLIST OF THIS FIC!!! Just stuff I listen too while I write for it, thanks to an awesome fan :) Stuff will be added as time goes on.
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/user/chulafirula/playlist/0tmhMTMSE2sxNRLoIiqrKr?si=69AhKk1zRXO_0-shx9s0HQ


	10. That Makes Two Of Us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back! Back again and delivering upon you a chapter to quench your thirst. 
> 
> If you'd like, due to a fan of epic awesomeness, there is now a Spotify playlist of songs that I listen too while I write this fic. Link is here if you want to join in. 
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/user/chulafirula/playlist/0tmhMTMSE2sxNRLoIiqrKr?si=69AhKk1zRXO_0-shx9s0HQ
> 
> Songs for this chapter in particular;
> 
> Dust Bowl III by Other Lives
> 
> Looking Out by Brandi Carlile
> 
> With the Ink of a Ghost - José González
> 
>    
> Also if you're a subscriber to all my works in progress, there is now a playlist for each of them! Look out for it at the next update :)

Lena was walking through a field; the soft sunlight was flickering across her skin with each step. The cold wind ran across her face as the green grass, tall and robust, rubbed against her legs. Every sigh of air made her heart skip a beat, and even though she didn’t know where she was going, Lena knew who she was heading towards. 

 

Her eyes were locked on the back of their white shirt, as they stood looking away from her and out across the field without making a sound. Lena couldn’t help the feeling of happiness that she felt. The sense of freedom that came from existing in this place. 

 

She took a minute to take a deep breath of the cooling air, fresh with the earthy smell of wet earth. The orange light from the sunrise was slowly cascading and rippling over everything it touched, creating a rainbow explosion of colours that no one would ever be able to replicate. 

 

Without warning, the person she had been walking towards was by her side. Lena let out a sigh as they pressed up against her side, soft breaths hitting the back of her neck as they ran their calloused hands down her arm until they could lightly intertwine with her fingers.

 

Lena let out another breath and moved to turn around to face them, but she couldn’t. There was a heavy weight over her waist pressing her into a soft surface. Groggily, her mind retreated from the dream and returned to reality. Lena opened her eyes and let them adjust, taking in the crisp white sheets beneath her and tangled around her legs. The sound of the softly running air con registered, as well as the sudden prickle of goosebumps along her side. Almost as if sensing it, the warm body behind her curled closer, warm skin to skin contact making the cold disappear into pleasantry.

 

Lena almost allowed her eyes to fall closed once more, annoyed that she’d never seen the face of the person in her dream and feeling more relaxed than she could remove being when the memories of last night returned to her.

 

Kara lowering her into the mattress, both of them kicking their clothes off as fast as possible and pressing opened mouth kisses over every single scar on each other’s bodies, the farmer having significantly more, while the other whispered the story behind them. 

 

They were laughing together when one of them rushed too much, urging the other when they were too slow — and crying when they came along, the whole world finally balancing at that moment. It hadn’t been the most out there sex Lena had ever had, and she had gotten the sense that they had both been holding back physically and emotionally. But it had been a long time since she had slept with someone who looked at her so hungrily. Who desired her for who she was as a person first and foremost.

 

She knew she should regret it. Or at least realise the full impact of how badly this was destined to end, but Lena found herself completely uncaring. Listening to the way that Kara had broken apart in front of her, spilling out her feelings in a way that Lena knew had been building for years. 

 

Lena had remained silent then; her whole body had flooded with the terrifying sense and reality that she and Kara were the same in far too many ways. The feeling of trapped pressure, a need to stand by family. To be a guard for their legacy. 

 

Which is why it was so painful that for one of them to survive, the other would have to fall. 

 

But Lena didn’t want to think of that. She just wanted her mind to stop for the first time in her life and exist at this moment. Lena knew the minute that Kara began to wake up. Her fingers tightened and muscles tensed slightly as she stretched out slightly. The soft breaths against the back of Lena’s neck died, and there was a sudden, heart-stopping moment for Lena when she thought Kara would finally realise what a terrible mistake she had made. But instead of that happening, Kara pressed a series of gentle kisses down the back of Lena’s neck, twisting her body so she could continue them along Lena’s jaw. 

 

Lena smiled and giggled as Kara’s kisses became more rapid, turning them so that Lena was once again flat on her back and gazing up at the other woman. Kara halted her activities, eyes shining and a smile dancing on her lips. 

 

The light air seemed to shift without a word, descending into a grey state of desire as Kara's hand traced Lena’s skin, dipping down and along her stomach until it crept under the sheet. Lena pressed back against the pillow a moment later, mouth opening in a groan as Kara moved her fingers forward and back. Kara smirked, finding what she was looking for, and pressed another kiss against Lena’s arched neck, before capturing her lips with a deep kiss when she let out a particularly deep breath.

 

She leaned into it, both of them only breaking for air.

 

“Forgive my lips,” she husked into Lena’s ear, nipping at the lobe. “They find pleasure, in the most unusual of places.”

 

Any lingering anxious thoughts flew out the window when she shifted once more, making Lena gasp.

 

* * *

 

Lena was quickly concluding that the drought was lovely, as long as you had aircon to get you through your days. After their tryst this morning, Lena had fallen asleep once more and only woke now again half pressed across Kara’s chest as the blonde traced idle patterns along the skin of her bare back. 

 

Kara let out a low hum, the touch becoming lighter as Lena shifted her head to look up at her. Her blue eyes were clouded with something, some impenetrable thoughts that Lena wanted to banish from this room as quickly as possible. Even though Kara probably had a ridiculous amount of things to do, Lena knew that she did at least, the farmer hadn’t left.

 

“What are you thinking about?” Lena whispered.

 

Kara’s brooding eyes softened, her fingers tracing up Lena’s shoulder blades so she could play with her hair.

 

“I think that I can’t seem to muster up the enthusiasm to leave this bed.”

 

Lena nodded in turn, pushing herself off Kara so she could lie beside her and stare up at the ceiling, taking in the pristine white colour that Kara had so painstakingly painted. 

 

“Yeah, the real world can stuff it today I think,” she answered, pleased that Kara had continued her ministrations, fingers twisting and dancing in her dark locks.

 

“You don’t think we made a mistake?” 

 

Lena turned her head, eyes inches from Kara’s and taking in the poorly hidden anxiety. She reached out with her fingers to gently trace the other woman’s surprisingly soft lips.

 

“No,” she breathed out in reply. “I don’t think we made a mistake. I don’t make mistakes.”

 

Kara let out a breath and practically radiated relief, smiling against Lena’s fingers in a way that made even Lena want to laugh. Kara was a very visceral person, everything done to extremes while she gave every last drop of her blood doing it. She was the type of person who wore her heart on her sleeve, despite how many times the world had attacked it. She was the type of person that Lena would usually be reviled by. Not that Lena didn’t appreciate good people, but most good people she had known had either been far too aware of how she wasn’t or missionary types who seemed to make it their mission in life to try to convert her into something better. 

 

Lena wasn’t the type to make friends, but it felt different with Kara. A lot of it has to do with the fact that Lena could never quite peg her as a person. On the outset, Kara seemed like the most predictable person on the planet, but every time she thinks she might have her sussed, Kara did something to surprise her.

 

She was emotionally chaotic, but with a tolerance for dealing with disaster the likes of which Lena had never seen in anyone but herself. She cared about people deeply and had a saviour complex, but Lena could now see that there was still a core part of her that she protected and nurtured for herself and her alone. 

 

Lena could help but feel like she wasn’t made for the world that she was in. And while Lena despised sentiment, Kara had weakened her walls enough to allow Lena to grant her some. 

 

“Did you ever think about leaving?”

 

Kara's eyes grew curious, and she shrugged slightly. 

 

“Sure... I’ve entertained the idea.”

 

Suddenly, she let out a chuckle.

 

“Why are you laughing?” Lena asked with a smile.

 

Kara gave her a lopsided grin in return that made an explosion of butterflies erupt in Lena’s stomach. 

 

“It’s just funny..... that Clark left and became a journalist,” she announced. “Everyone always told me I was the writer in the family.”

 

Lena arched an eyebrow, once again surprised. She was trying to imagine Kara sitting with her back to her, at a desk in her penthouse and looking out over the city and writing while it rained. Lena remained expressionless, but a part of her was disturbed at just how fast that image flashed up in her mind. 

 

“You write?” She asked instead.

 

Kara’s became sad.

 

“Not anymore….” She replied, looking up at the ceiling herself. 

 

“Back before everything went wrong… I used to write little stories that Alex, Clark and I used to perform for our parents every time we had a bbq. It was..... are some of the happiest memories I have.”

 

Lena thought for a moment, of the vulnerable and drunk admittance by Kara the night before. That her mother had committed suicide, it wasn’t information that Lena had been privy to before Kara hold revealed it, and given the prevalence of gossip in this town and the way that individual members of it loathed Kara with every fibre of their being, Lena was genuinely surprised she hadn’t known. 

 

Her thoughts darkened at that. The hidden secrets that always rotted beneath in these places. Where everyone pretended to be a saint, when in fact they were riddled with sins. People who were different were punished, and the weak reviled.

 

And anyone that couldn’t escape there own mind was weak. So they’ll complain and groan, treating living people, single mothers and fatherless children, like the scum of humanity. But they won’t speak of the issues that needed to be addressed. At least in the city, people didn’t have the hypocrisy of pretending they were….

 

No, Lena thought. 

 

People were fucking assholes everywhere, but at least in the city, you could drown yourself in the crowd.

 

“And you never thought about doing it?” Lena asked quietly. “Going to college, getting a degree?”

 

Kara exhaled, the sound disproportionally loud in the bubble they had wrapped themselves in that morning.

 

“This is my life.”

 

Lena resisted the urge to scowl.

 

It wasn’t that Kara seemed to be resigned to this life that made her upset, though that certainly didn’t help. It was that she just seemed so stubbornly set on never experiencing anything else. On imagining possibilities beyond the life, she thought she’d been destined to inherit. 

 

“But it doesn’t have to be,” she finally answered.

 

Kara gave her a look, clearly picking up on the frustration in Lena’s voice. The real problem was they both seemed to think that the other was the one that didn’t understand. It was as if, despite all the ways they seemed to align, there was a fundamental building block missing between them.

 

Something about both of them that the other completely failed to grasp.

 

It was nigglingly frustrating, and Lena didn’t do frustration well. Even if Kara had indeed been testing her in that department ever since they had met. 

 

“Everything at school went off the rails when my mom died,” Kara replied starkly, looking back up the ceiling so fast that Lena was convinced she wanted to hide her expression.

 

She watched as the corner of Kara’s eyes tightened.

 

“I went off the rails.”

 

Lena waited in silence, hesitating before she reached out a hand gently, to run it over Kara's fist, clenched in the sheets. After a second, the blonde let out a breath and turned her palm about, so she could lace her fingers with each other.

 

“I failed so much, that the school told me not to bother attending the last month,” Kara muttered out. “I was expelled, but it wasn’t like I was going to graduate anyway. Better I spend my time here, doing something useful.”

 

Lena struggled with what to say in reply.

 

“That’s-”

 

“True.”

 

Lena wasn’t a very tactile person, but Kara seemed to override her drive for physical space simply by existing.

 

She propped herself up on her elbow so she could look down at the blonde’s face, the thumb of her other hand still tracing lazy circles on Kara’s skin. 

 

“You have so much life ahead of you,” Lena whispered out, eyes tracing Kara’s face to memorise every inch of it. 

“So much you still have left to do.”

 

Kara just stared up at Lena, flickering emotions in her eyes before another small smile grew. Without any prompting, she tugged Lena over until she was practically lying on top of her.

 

“I know one thing I could do..... right now.”

 

Even though the questions between them still lingered like some unspoken thing, Lena let the, banish from her mind temporarily and laughed.

 

“You’re cheesy.”

 

Kara’s smile softened, reaching out to trace the line of Lena’s jaw.

 

“You like it though.”

 

Lena didn’t reply, just pressed a gentle kiss on Kara’s lips.

 

* * *

 

When Lena woke up next, the sun had dipped low in the sky, casting orange light through the thin curtain and across the sheets. She tilted her head a frowned at the space beside her, eyes focusing in on the slip of paper lying on the pillow.

 

Lena sat up slowly and reached out to read it.

 

 

_I had some errands to run in town, but I’ll be back as soon as I can._

 

_I hope I didn’t exhaust you too much :)_

 

_K._

 

 

Lena couldn’t help but smile at the elegant looped writing, tracing her fingers over the ink and wondering at the small glow in her heart at reading them. She reached for her her phone, noticing the late time and frowned at the number of missed calls from her brother that had managed to get through even with the flickering signal. 

 

She stood to her feet, pulling on some clothes and shoes quickly before exiting the cottage. The warm air hit her like a thick blanket, instantly giving her a headache at the sudden change from the cool air inside. The power bill alone from her stay here was going to be astronomical, but it was a small price to pay for finally having some comfort down here.

 

Well, more than one comfort Lena thought, stretching out her muscles.

 

It took ten minutes, and a lot of swearing, before Lena found herself standing on the roof of the rusted out truck half a paddock away, her phone call finally getting through.

 

“Hello there little sister,” he brother’s voice rumbled out. “It seems you have been avoiding me.”

 

Lena frowned at the complicated feeling that the sound of Lex’s voice brought to her stomach. Knowing that this was precisely the reason she didn’t want to leave the bubble of that room. 

 

Even though her brother had prodded her in this direction for months now, and even though she and Kara had both promised no strings, everything was different now. Emotions had become clouded and complicated. Lena could already feel herself sinking further and further into an ethical maelstrom. 

 

“What do you want, Lex?”

 

There was a pause.

 

“Something’s wrong; what happened?” He asked seriously, a rare occurrence.

 

Lena scuffed her foot against the rusted bonnet, praying that she wasn’t going to fall through it, mangle herself and contract tetanus. She brooded for a beat, looking up and across the field bathed in the sunset, casting strange light that made the dust in the air dance and twirl.

 

She felt an ache in her chest, remembering the dream she had woken up from this morning, and she knew in her heart that everything had become more complicated. 

 

“Nothing’s wrong,” she breathed out in reply.

 

“Lena,” Lex said slowly in response. “You know you can’t lie to me.”  


Lena swallowed and listened as her brother let out a tired sigh.

 

“You slept with her, didn’t you?”

 

Lena didn’t know why, given that her attraction to Kara and subsequent encouragement by Lex had been well discussed, but she felt… ashamed. As if now that the dynamics had shifted. Which of course they had.

 

“Yes,” she said flatly.

 

There was another long pause, and Lena knew her brother well enough to picture exactly what he was doing right now. A tumbler of whisky in his hand, as he paced back and forth in his office. Looking out at the skyline. 

 

Lena wondered if it was raining there. 

 

“You don’t sound too happy about it,” he said with an attempt at weak humour. “Did she fail to meet your expectations? A one pump chump as it were-“

 

Lena felt a flash of defensiveness and anger.

 

“Don’t joke about that, Lex,” she bit back. “I don’t want to talk about it with you.”

 

She could have slapped herself the second the words fell from her mouth. Now she had revealed far more about her true feelings then she wanted, and her brother was far too intelligent and knew her far too well to know that her emotions had become fuzzy. 

 

“You made it complicated, didn’t you?”

 

It wasn’t so much a question as a fact demand for the truth, making Lena flush with uncertainty and embarrassment.

 

“I’m not… I…. “ She stuttered out, feeling her headache grow. “You were the one who’s been goading me to do this!”

 

A new ominous silence grew, her concern now rising with it.

 

“Circumstances have changed.”

 

It was his flat tone, neutral to the point of standoffishness, that made Lena’s mind changed into a new gear. She shoved the doubts around Kara to the back burner, business taken precedent as always.  


“What circumstances?”

 

Lena heard the sound of a new bottle being opened, and a drink poured.

  
“I talked to Jess today,” Lex said, after a sip.

 

Lena’s concern rose to it’s highest peak at that. While LuthorCorp had an entire legal department at their disposal, Jess wasn’t affiliated directly with the company. Instead, she was Lex and Lena’s private lawyer and the person they called when they needed things dealt with quickly, quietly and professionally.

 

She was their fixer.

 

“Why are you talking to Jess without me, Lex?” Lena demanded acidly, knowing that it was a redundant question.

 

There was only one reason, and they both knew it.  


 

“Because you’ve been in the middle of fucking nowhere for months, Lena,” Lex growled out. “On a job that was only supposed to take two at most. I’m slowly considering using your office as a closet and mother is-“

 

“I don’t give a shit about Lillian,” Lena cut him off angrily, refusing to be dragged along on an impassioned tangent. “Tell me why you were talking to Jess.”

 

Another long silence and Lena’s foreboding sense increased again.

 

“We have until the next quarterly meeting, Lena,” he whispered out in a broken voice. “Then everything…. it’ll all be gone. The entire company. And I’ll….”

 

Lena closed her eyes, his words striking a blow and panicking her. Everything was so messy now; it had been since the start. And now she… There were so many things to consider. The entire weight of their family name had been placed on her to salvage, to somehow carry them limping with this last hail mary venture. Everything was riding on it, and at the start, it had all seemed so simple.

 

Now she had put a face to these people. 

 

And Kara….

 

The hard question was simmering under the surface rising an inch, knowing that there was no way that both of them were going to survive the oncoming storm.

 

“Lena?”

 

She shook her head, letting his voice revive her from her contemplation.

 

“I heard you,” she said flatly.

 

Lena could almost hear the beating of Lex’s heart at his next whispered words.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Lena closed her eyes in pain.

 

“You don’t have to-“

 

“Yes, I do,” he answered. “This was my….”

 

The intensely packed box, the one she had shelved deep down in a room of her mind labelled as family shook violently, begging to be unpacked. 

 

But Lena didn’t open her boxes, just shunted them aside allowing them only to leave a lingering sense of pain, while the emotional burden of carrying them in her heart increased each an every day.

 

“Yeah…”

 

Lena didn’t have anything else to say, but there was far too much she should.  


“I’m tired, Lex,” she admitted haggardly. “I’m getting tired. This duplicitousness it’s…. There are good people here that don’t deserve to lose their land.”

 

It went against her whole grain, but the fledgling part of her that felt emotional vulnerability couldn’t help but issue its opinion. 

 

A completely biased and sentimental opinion that the other sensible part of her wanted to drop an anvil on.

 

“They’re going to lose it anyway.”

 

The words that she had repeated so many times echoed in her mind and threatened to haunt her forever with their implications.

 

“It’s not that simple,” Lena answered firmly, still wondering what the hell she was doing. “I can’t just divorce myself from the realities on the ground.”

 

“The facts on the ground is that you’ve lost your sense of reality!” He shouted back, losing his temper. “You can dance the line all you like, Lena. But be careful not to stray onto the side of the angels. It’s a town of stupid rednecks, either too invested in neighbourly compassion or willing to stab their neighbour in the back and undercut them on a sale.”

 

Lena gritted her teeth, her hackles rising with every disdainful word dripping from his mouth.

 

“Don’t be condescending, Lex,” she snapped. “Not to me.”

 

Lex snorted.

 

“You’re falling in love with her, aren’t you?”

 

She shook her head, beating at the flames from the back burner where she had placed those confusion thoughts. Lena didn’t need nor wanted to deal with them at the moment, preferably never. It wasn’t as if she needed to involve that it this conversation, even if Lena would admit only to herself that growing fond of Kara had heavily influenced her opinion. 

 

Lena wasn’t used to warring with herself on anything, and especially not with her brother. But she also wasn’t going to be shouted at by him and have him undercut by what she was trying to tell him, just because he was stressed.

 

After all, who wasn’t fucking stressed out?  


“She loves this place, more than anything else in her life,” Lena answered instead of answering the question.  


“Then, by all means, bring her with you!” He said sarcastically. “Once this deal goes through, we’ll have enough money to buy her ten farms. You can retire and play patty cake all you fucking want!”

 

The angry beast in her chest, lying dormant for a very long time, reared it’s head and roared. This was no longer just about Kara, or this job. It was about everything in Lex’s assigned box that had flown out of the cabinet, dumping its contents on the floor while the beast treads muddy prints through it.

 

“I wouldn’t be here at all if it weren’t for you,” she poisonously answered.

 

There was a deadly quiet from her brother, the unspoken agreement to never have this argument shattered between them now.

 

“I didn’t cause a fucking drought, Lena,” he sidestepped. “I’m not the reason they’re all in debt up to their eyeballs.”

 

“No,” Lena replied. “But it’s still very convenient for you, isn’t it?”

 

“If it weren’t us, it’d be someone-“

 

Lena groaned and rolled her eyes.

 

“I don’t need to be lectured, Lex!”

 

“You do!” He shouted back. “If you’ve let your heart rule your head… again.”

 

Lena kicked at the bonnet of the car, a stab of pain radiating up her leg and making her eyes water with pain.

 

“At least I have a head!” She screamed back. “We wouldn’t have to be here at all, doing any of this, if it wasn’t for you!”

 

There was a crinkle and a shatter on the other end of the line.  


“It’s _our_ company, sister.”

 

Lena scowled.

 

“You can’t even say the words. Can’t even own up to it, can you?” She asked.

 

Not giving him a chance to respond, she continued.

 

“It was _your_ embezzlement, brother. I wasn’t the one who stole funds from the pension. I wasn’t the one who was so desperate to live up to our dead father’s expectations, that I tried to make deals with the fucking mob! I wasn’t the one who bribed officials to change environmental reports. None of that was fucking me!”

 

She’d never said it, even as she heaved for breath Lena realised that. It had always been discussed abstractly, with Jess and action plans. But never a single accusation had been thrown before. 

 

Lena had always known that Lex played fast an loose with most things, but when the divorce proceedings had begun to take place, and he had retaken guidance aspects of the company she had kept an eye on, things had started to go south. It was only once she returned, eternally crippled herself financially, that she saw the damage that had occurred from his bad design making.

 

It wasn’t even what he’d done, so much as the fact that they had both spent years trying to make their company better than it’s origins. To remove it from its stained past. But Lex was guilty now of several federal crimes, and this land deal that had been shelved for a near decade was their only sensible out. If they could just finish it here, Lex would be able to return the money he’d lost. The accounting errors could be greased over, and they’d all live to fight another day.

 

And that was what she had been focusing on with laser-like precision. It wasn’t just Kara that stood to lose everything here; it was Lena too. 

 

Her company could be taken from her and Lex too.

 

It was all too complicated.

 

“You’ve been right there along with me, sister,” Lex finally hissed out. “Every step of the way.”

 

The threat hurt, more than anything else he had said or done. Making her reel emotionally. 

That he would consider dragging him down with her in the disaster he’d created for them both...

 

She felt tears spring to her eyes.

 

“It’s always been up to me to clean up your mess, Lex,” she whispered out, exhaustion creeping into her voice. 

 

“It’s like we’re both in the ocean, and you’re clinging on to me to help you float. But you refuse to admit you’re drowning. I’ve always had to be the one to bail you out, ever since we were children.”

 

Lena could still remember, after dark nights where Lex would leave their father’s study with knew black eyes and shouts behind him — vanishing into his own a refusing to come out until his breath was also thoroughly scented with liquor.

 

It had been Lena, even as a little girl, that had made him go back to bed and tell her parents that lex was sick. It had been Lena, before she was even a teen, picking Lex up at three in the morning from a party that got out of hand. It was Lena that had sent the threats to keep to stop one of his college classmates from reporting that Lex had cheated on his finals.

 

Lena was also a fixer.

 

“Do I need to send someone else to do your job?” Lex sounded out roughly. “Are you too compromised? Don’t you care about our legacy anymore?”

 

Lena saw red at that comment.  


 

“I’m the only vanguard of our fucking legacy, Lex,” she hissed out. “And I find it ironic that you’d accuse me of being compromised when you can barely walk out of the front door without gambling away half our livelihood.”

 

Her ears picked up on the sound of an engine, looking up to see Kara driving towards her through the bumpy paddock. Lena’s temper immediately softened.

 

“You didn’t answer my question.”

 

She barely registered his words, seeing Kara now making her anger disappear in the placement of sadness.

 

“I guess today is greedy bastard day,” she whispered in response.

 

Lex grunted.

 

“Yes or no?”

 

Kara pulled up a few metres away, opening the door, letting Oscar jump over her to run over to Lena with a wagging tail. He stared up at her expectantly, Lena smiling weakly at his eagerness. She looked back up at Kara, walking towards her with a broad smile and felt her regret and resignation return as reality sunk back in.

 

Far from clouded dreams of what might be.

 

“Have I ever let you down?”  


Before he could reply, she hung up and masked her face into a smile for Kara’s benefit.

 

The farmer was looking up at her with a cocked, eyes tracing her figure up and down.

 

“Your legs look remarkable at this angle.”

 

Lena smiled at that, holding out her hand for Kara to take.

 

“Help me down?”  


 

Kara took it quickly, letting Lena jump off the bonnet and land in a small puff of dirt.

 

“You ok?”

 

Lena nodded, not looking at Kara’s face as she busied herself with patting Oscar who had, typically, fallen against her and lifted his front leg so she could scratch his belly and chest.  


 

“Yeah,” she murmured, lifting away as the dog licked her hand enthusiastically and let out a bark before jumping away excitedly. 

 

“I’m fine.”

 

A light touch on her shoulder, made her turn to look into Kara’s open and concerned face.

 

“You know, when people say they’re fine, they’re usually not.”

 

Lena tried not to let her walls rise, but she couldn’t deny her nature. Locking away the hardest parts of herself in favour of reaching her hand to gently touch Kara’s face, tracing her jawline before letting her hand drop once more. 

 

“I’m fine, Kara.”

 

Lena could see that the other woman didn’t believe her, but she didn’t press the issue. Instead of walking forward, she moved towards the truck, opening the passenger door for Lena to climb into. 

 

After she had hauled herself in, noting with amusement that Kara seemed to have finally cleaned the cabin, wiping away the near inch layer of dust on the dashboard and removing the loose bits of wire and fence staples from the floor.

 

After they’d once again began the slow rumble towards the main house and cottage, Oscar happily running behind. Without prompting, as if sensing her stress, Kara reached out to take her hand without a word. Lena let her eyes close and muscles soften, taking a deep breath and willing herself not to get sucked into the fantasy world she was concocting in her head.

 

Once they’d pulled up, walking around to the back of the truck, Lena spoke again.  


“Did you do what you needed to do in town?” 

 

Kara smiled thinly, tapping the crate she had in the tray of the truck. The rattle of bottles sounding out.

 

“Yeah, I got Dad some things.”

 

Lena looked down at the whisky bottles, noting the amount and doing the maths in her head to calculate the cost. 

 

If he drank like that with Kara’s meagre income, no wonder their credit was a burning dumpster fire.

 

“I see.”

 

Kara shuffled on her feet.

 

“Look, if I didn’t get it for him, he’d drive,” she said defensively. “And that would be dangerous for everybody and everything.”

 

Lena shook her head.  


“I’m not judging you, Kara,” she said quietly.

 

The blonde flushed and scratched the back of her head. 

 

“I…. I know you’re not,” she muttered out, clearly feeling awkward. “Honestly, it’s a little weird. You’re the only person around here that doesn’t either tiptoe around the subject, look at me with pity over it, or make not so passive aggressive stabs about it.”

 

Lena shrugged.

 

“There are more important things to focus on in life than parents.”

 

Or siblings.

 

Kara smiled, shrugging off the unsavoury thoughts in favour of a smile.  


 

“Well, that saves me a trip to a psychologist….” She murmured, walking around the truck tray until she was standing a foot away from Lena with a cocked eyebrow and lopsided smile. 

 

“But I was thinking; I could maybe come round again tonight?” She asked, jerking her head in the direction of the crate. “I’ll filch a bottle from this, and we can have a drink ourselves?”

 

Lena stared at the bottles, then back at Kara. Rethinking the night she had seen Kara near pass out drunk at The Bar. Or even last night, when they’d both had a few, but it took Kara nearly double the amount as her to get even tipsy. 

 

Lena should know better than to think Kara’s business was her issue or problem, but her concern still spiked. She knew more than most the dangers of following in parent's footsteps when it came to alcohol dependency, having watched her brother tread that path ever since he was a teenager.

 

She reached out, smiling at Kara and pushing her worry away for another day, preferably to never be dealt with.

 

“You need to drink to be able to talk to sleep with me?” She asked sultrily, touching the hard line of Kara’s forearm.

 

The other woman frowned, shaking her head defensively.  


“What? No!” She said quickly.

 

Lena nodded, not wanting to aggravate it and instead just widened her smirk, watching as it threw Kara off balance.

 

“Then why don’t you leave that at home, and you an I can just…”

 

She trailed off, letting Kara’s mind fill in the blanks.  


“Just….?”

 

Lena shrugged and let her voice drop slightly, looking Kara up and down lasciviously.

 

“I don’t know,” she drawled. “See where the night takes us?”

 

Kara bit her lower lip, her own eyes darkening.

 

“Well… I could showcase my singing abilities.”

 

Lena ran her hand up Kara’s arm until her fingers were tapping a pattern against the there woman’s tanned skin.

 

“I could speak to you in French.”

 

Kara laughed, pulling her close by her waist.

 

“I think we can find a way to combine those two activities, don’t you?” She whispered into Lena’s neck.

 

Lena laughed.  


“You’re incorrigible.” 

 

* * *

 

Later, when Lena was pressed against Kara’s chest her head filled with brooding thoughts as the other woman ran her fingers gently through her hair. Lena would have happily have fallen asleep while Kara continued her soft ministrations, but the other woman’s next words tensed her spine. 

 

“What was your marriage like?”

 

Veronica didn’t have a file shoved deep down, so much as an entire floor in the storage department. And whenever she was mentioned, Lena couldn’t help but feel a swell of anger and shame. Still furious at herself for being duped so thoroughly.

 

She pushed away, shifting to the side of the bed to create some distance. The last thing she wanted to do in with her already fractious mind, was talking about her ex-wife while lying naked next to Kara.  


“Why does it matter?” She grumbled out.

 

Lena heard the rustle of a sheet and a soft hand touch her upper back.

 

“I just want to know more about you, is all.”

 

She sat up suddenly, not wanting any contact. Standing to her feet and wrapping the thin sheet around herself, leaving Kara to sit up on the mattress with a confused expression.

 

“And your go-to is asking me about my failed divorce?” Lena asked in an accusing voice, feeling the headache that disappeared so rapidly in Kara’s presence, return once more.

 

“I just want to get to know you better, that’s all,” Kara replied softly. “You never talk about her.”

 

Lena huffed, glaring down at the other woman.

 

“There’s nothing to talk about! She’s just a person who cheated on me, stole nearly all of my money and left me completely shattered.”

 

Kara gave her a long look.

 

“Cause there isn’t a whole lot to unpack there….”

 

Lena had little desire to laugh at the attempt at levity.

 

“What do you want me to tell you, Kara?” She warningly asked.

 

The other woman frowned, sitting up properly herself, gathering her thoughts before she spoke once again with a slight frown.

 

“It’s just; this is a woman you loved and planned to spend the rest of your life with at one point. Surely there must be more to the story.”

 

Lena bristled.

 

“There isn’t.”

 

Kara sighed.

 

“Lena-“

 

“Just drop it!” Lena shouted, furious at the insinuation that she could be at fault for anything and everything that Veronica had done to her. “Jesus Christ, Kara. You’re not my therapist or my girlfriend, why on earth should it matter to you?”

 

They were harsh words and left Lena feeling bereft even with her fury. But she had to say them, the explosion of harsh emotions attacking from all sides today, rearing up with the beast and swirling in a fog of rage and confusion.

 

“Because we’re friends,” Kara finally replied. "And I care about you.”

 

Lena’s jaw clenched, desperate not to let the kindness seep into her. 

 

“I don’t need you to care about me, ok?” She spat. “We’ve slept together; we’re not in a relationship for fuck’s sake.”

 

Kara’s face hardened and Lena felt her anger vanish as fast as it had risen, realising that she had crossed the line that their friendship had drawn in the sand. She watched at Kara quickly stood up, collecting her clothes and pulling them on.

 

“Come on Kara,” Lena breathed out regretfully, watching her movements. “Don’t be like that.”

 

The muscles in Kara’s next tightened at her words, turning to look at Lena with a sad expression and making the other woman feel even worse than she would have if Kara were furious.

 

The anger she could handle, sadness was a whole different ball game.

 

“I’m not just a body to fill your bed,” Kara replied steadily. “And that’s the way you’re making me feel.”

 

Lena sighed.

 

“Of course you’re not,” she tried to reassure, reaching out to touch Kara’s shoulder.

 

The woman pulled away.

 

“You know the problem with friends with benefits, is that you’re telling someone they’re good enough to fuck but not good enough to feel anything for.”

 

Lena gave Kara a sharp look.

 

“You were the one that said no strings, Kara,” She replied, daring her to contradict the words. 

 

The surviving guard on the shattered walls packing a suitcase already in her mind, and making ready to flee as fast as she could. Running away from this hole that she had firmly dug for herself here.

 

Lena didn’t need to feel things, nor did she want to. What she desired now was to fly to a tropical paradise, drink her weight in cocktails and read a book on a beach, making everyone handle their affairs without her.

 

Instead of saying the three words that Lena had a sneaking suspicion were sitting in the room like a dark spectre, Kara just rolled her eyes and sat back down on the mattress.

 

“There aren’t strings, Lena,” she replied tiredly, resting her head in her hands as she hunched over herself. “I’m not…. I’m not expecting anything from you. I just…. I like you. I want to know more about you.”

 

Lena felt the chaotic flood disperse, falling away in favour of the deep fondness that had formed for Kara. She wasn’t used to being around genuine people, who shot as straight as they thought, with no hidden agendas with a forthright attitude that they refused to change for anyone. Combined with her general passionate nature and the kindness that radiated off of her, Lena found herself easily slipping down a rabbit hole. Feeling a need to explain her behaviour and discuss her feelings had never been something she quickly did, but for Kara…

 

Well, she’d already bent a few rules.

 

Lena sank into the mattress beside Kara, gathering her words carefully before she spoke.

 

“I’m not good at talking,” she admitted redundantly, waiting for Kara to look up from her hands and back at her face.

 

Lena shrugged and gave her a weak smile.

 

“I don’t trust people easily,” she continued. “The only person I have left in my life who knows anything about me is my brother, and I like it that way.”

 

Though her feeling towards him currently was a tangled web too.

 

“And Veronica she…. she broke my heart,” Lena brokenly whispered, tears pricking the back of her eyes as it all began to tumble out. “She’s still breaking it…. She didn’t just cheat on me; she tried to take away everything I hold dear. The things I’ve poured my heart and soul into.”

 

Lena closed her eyes, feeling every inch of the pain.

 

“And I can’t even move on, because I’m going to have to pay her alimony for the rest of my life,” she said with taught hands. “I can’t escape the stranglehold.”

 

Lena could see it all in her mind. Their entire relationship playing out, and the feeling of finally being free and giving permission to be happy for the first time in her life. Veronica had intoxicated her. Everything about her had reeled her in, and their relationship had burned brighter and hotter than a star. 

 

When it crashed, it had destroyed everything around it, finding her wife in bed mid-tryst. 

 

“I thought that she was the one,” Lena whispered, wiping away the stray tears. “And I let my heart rule my head like an idiot. The warning signs were all there, but I ignored them because I was so caught up in the idea that anyone could love me the way she pretended to, that I couldn’t see that she was fucking pretending.”

 

Lena scoffed.

 

“I mean, how stupid was I?” She asked the air, before sighing. “Truthfully, it’s just painful.”

 

Kara touched her shoulder slightly, Lena leaning into the comfort.

 

“My whole life I’ve put everything… every painful feeling in a box,” she sounded out. “I’ve shoved those boxes deep down because I don’t want to deal with them. I want to let them go.”

 

Lena felt the tension in her heart twist, and then finally release.

 

“But sometimes… sometimes I’m afraid to.”

 

Lena turned to look at Kara with wet cheeks.

 

“Because even though it’s fucking exhausting carting them around, I’ve based my whole identity on them. And that is so infuriatingly horrible. I don’t want to be this way, but this is the only way I know how to be.”

 

Lena let her forehead drop to Kara’s shoulder, shuddering at the toxicity finally escaping her heart.

 

“There’s a reason I’ve been a loner my whole life,” she mumbled against Kara’s skin. “I’m comfortable that way. There are a total of two people that I let into my life. One betrayed me and the other…”

 

She trailed off, Kara not replying for a beat before speaking softly.

 

“I thought you and Lex…?”

 

More tears escaped as Lena raised her head.

 

“I love my brother, more than anything else,” she passionately said, needing Kara to understand. “It’s always been us, and it’ll always be us, against the world. But he…. he’s even more fucked up than I am.” 

 

Lena began to cry in earnest now.

 

“And he’s a fantastic man, but he’s still a child in so many ways. He rules his life and the business like it’s… He makes stupid mistakes that….”

 

The words choked in her mouth, looking up into Kara’s trusting eyes.  


 

“That what?”

 

Lena wanted to, at that moment she wanted to tell Kara the truth. But she couldn’t do it.

 

Wouldn’t do it.

 

“He just makes mistakes,” she insisted instead with a harsh swallow. “Big ones. And sometimes I do resent him because it’s always up to me to clean up the mess.”

 

Kara gave her a soft look, reaching out to wipe away the tears still on Lena’s face.

 

“You don’t have to,” she whispered out, her face still cast in a dark shadow from the moonlight filtering through the window.

 

Lena let out a laugh, smiling sadly.  


 

“Oh yeah? You an expert on telling people no when they demand things from you?”

 

Kara acknowledged the point, her eyes becoming lost and joining Lena in her pain.

 

“It’s not demanding though, is it?” She asked herself, looking away. “It’s…. just this layered expectation. And we’ve grown so used to being the dependable one that we keep falling in line. Then people tell us that we should stop. Just walk away from these people that we love so much, even as they continue to drain everything that we are.”

 

She let her hand rest against Lena’s knee, fingers playing with the sheet.

 

“It’s just not that easy. Because everything that you are has become twisted up in them too,” she bitterly continued. “That dependency on being needed. The dependency on hating being needed. You spend so much of your life trying to figure out how to feel about what they’re doing to you, that you don’t even know who you are anymore. And when you finally take the time to discover yourself, even if it makes you feel happier than anythingyou’ve ever known, it just doesn’t feel…”

 

Lena finished for her.

 

“Real.”

 

Kara nodded, looking back at her with a weak smile.

 

“It’s hard to put it into words,” she admitted.

 

Lena smiled and nudged Kara’s shoulder with her own.

 

“I don’t know,” she answered. “I think you did a pretty good job. Imagine if you had a pen.”

 

Kara laughed, before quieting and reaching out to cup Lena’s cheek.

 

“Right now,” she whispered. “I just want to be here with you.”

 

Lena felt it at that moment, her heart falling just a little bit more.

 

“It’s funny,” she whispered out, comforted by Kara’s touch. “I feel like I’ve known you all my life, but we don’t know each other at all.”

 

Kara gave her a crooked grin.  


“Maybe in the biblical sense.”

 

Lena rolled her eyes but felt slightly cheered by the humour.

 

“Oh please don’t bring God into what this is,” she murmured. “It tends to put a damper on any given situation.”

 

Kara cocked her head.

 

“I gather you’re an atheist?”

 

Lena nodded.  


“You gather correctly,” she dryly replied. “Aren’t you?”

 

Kara took a beat to reply.

 

“I’m a… I don’t know,” she admitted. “I don’t want to be that person who says they’re not religious, they’re spiritual, but it’s not as simple as that.”

 

Lena pondered her words.

 

“I believe in science,” she responded. “It governs all.”

 

Kara rolled her eyes and fell back on the bed, waving her arms in the air.

 

“Yeah ok,” she replied sarcastically. “We’re all atoms, and everything is just genes and environment and yadda yadda. But even though that may explain how it all works, it still can’t properly explain the ways of the soul.”

 

Lena gave her a look.

 

“Yes, it can.”

 

Kara laughed at her firm reply, before staring at her with a smile. Lena allowed herself to fall back on the bed, lying next to Kara and be mesmerised by her eyes. She felt herself slipping into their colour, becoming far too relaxed and lost in the emotions that Kara’s presence wrapped around her.  


“That day I took you to the river bank,” Kara whispered out. “When I took you around the farm, what did you feel?”

 

Lena could feel it, planted like a seed in her heart that was waiting eagerly for the rain the same way the rest of this land yearned for it — painting a picture in her mind and spirit, something important insisting that she know it and name it. The flash of the dream replaying in her mind, of soft green grass and that warm and comforting figure.  


“I don’t know.”

 

Kara’s eyes flickered over her face.

 

“Is that true?”

 

Lena took a deep breath.

 

“No.”

 

Kara smiled, reaching up to trace Lena’s lips familiarly.  


“Can I tell you what I felt?” 

 

Lena’s eyes fluttered closed at the whisper, her soul aching for Kara’s voice.

  


“If you insist,” She murmured.

 

Kara shifted forward until their forehead were pressed together and she could whisper once more as if what she was about to say was the greatest secret of her life.

 

“I felt you,” she answered. “I always feel that connection. And I know I keep saying it, and I’ll say it a hundred more times, but there’s just something so rawly powerful about knowing, even if the rest of your life is falling apart, that sense of home.” 

 

She bit her lip, lifting her hand to press it over Lena’s heart. The pounding sound was threatening to overtake everything. 

 

“I guess for some people it’s a person, or the beach, or writing, or singing, or reading books,” Kara continued. “But for me, it’s all bound up in ideas and potential. What this land is….. it’s more than just a thing I can pass up for another dream. It’s so deep within in me that it can drive me mad. I’ve seen it. I feel it in here, right in my chest.” 

 

Her eyes danced with broken and repaired dreams.

 

“But it can also unite families and communities,” she continued to explain smiling to herself as her eyes seemed to look through Lena and past her. “You’re a part of something so intrinsically primal, and working the land just awakens something in me that I can’t find anywhere else.” 

 

Kara face filled with an emotion that Lena couldn’t quite place.

 

“The only time I’m truly happy and feel content is when I’m here,” she breathed out. “It’s like an extension of myself. And if I lost it, it’d be like losing a limb. I honestly don’t know if I’d ever be able to recover. Because that’s what a farm is, you know. It’s not just earth and fences and cattle… that’s what a farm needs, but what a farm is…. it’s freedom.”

 

Lena had seen the world, spoken at conferences, watched some of the greatest artists works and perform in front of her. She had travelled to some of the rarest parts of the world, received the best, most diversified, education imagined. But even with all of that, Lena didn’t think she had ever felt even an inch of the raw passion Kara practically bled through her words. And Lena felt like a knife had been stabbed in her heart, knowing what she was about to be the reason that Kara lost it all, even if it was to stop Lena from losing everything too.

  
  
“Kara I-“

 

“Do you know what that love feels like?”

 

Staring into Kara’s eyes, Lena began to wonder.  


“No,” she answered instead, feeling dishonest and dirty.“I don’t know what that feels like.”

 

Kara looked sad at the admittance, but a smile still stretched across her face.

 

“One day you will. I know you will.”

 

Lena had never felt like more like crying.

 

“I’m not like you,” she whispered. “Not in that way.”

 

The crinkle formed between Kara’s eyes at Lena’s words. 

 

“Do you know what the great thing is about boxes?” She asked suddenly. “You can always unpack them. However you want, whenever you want to. But you can do it.”

 

Lena smiled tiredly in response.  


“And you think that’ll make me better?” She said in answer.

 

Kara laughed, pressing a quick kiss to her nose and making Lena sneeze. 

 

“Well to me, you’re perfect no matter what,” she responded, grinning as Lena scratched her nose.

 

Kara propped herself up once more so she could lean over Lena, pressing a firmer kiss against her lips. Lena’s exhaustion slipped away with new energy, reaching up to thread her fingers in the hair at the nape of Kara’s neck.

 

Kara pulled back, scattering kisses over her face which made Lena laugh. 

 

“You’re only saying that because you’re horny.”

 

The blonde pressed a to her neck, murmuring against her skin.  


 

“No,” she replied. “That’s just a happy coincidence.”

 

Lena groaned, before rolling them over suddenly until she was on top. Kara looked up at her with surprise. The brunette quickly reached her hands down, pulling up the flannel shirt that Kara had pulled rapidly on, yanking at it until Kara shifted enough for her to pull it over her head. Lena leant down and pressed her own series of open-mouthed kisses down Kara’s skin, from her neck, along her sternum and down even further. She began to play with the waistband of Kara’s jeans, ready to unzip and fulfil her promise to speak French when Kara caught her chin and drew her attention back to her face. 

 

Lena gave her a questioning look as Kara sat them both up, pulling Lena forward once more, so she was straddling her knees.

 

“I know you just see me as a naive dreamer,” Kara whispered out, playing with Lena’s loose hair once more. “And I know that I’ve never seen anything beyond this place, so what could I possibly know about myself in the grand scheme of things.”

 

Lena frowned.

 

“I don’t see you-“

 

“It’s ok,” Kara cut her off with a smile. “I get it, I do. But this isn’t something that I’m going to change my mind on Lena. I know in my heart, I could travel the breadth of the earth, and I’d still end up right here every time.”

 

Lena closed her eyes, trying and failing to close her heart.

 

“How can you possibly know that?” She whispered.

 

Kara shrugged.

 

“I don’t; I just believe it.”

 

Lena let out a shuddering breath and opened her eyes, forcing herself to look at Kara directly.

 

“So no hard data, no experience….”

 

Lena’s fingers tightened on Kara’s shoulder, a feeling of careless abandon and desire to escape becoming desperate.

 

“I could take you, you know,” she shared honestly. “I could take you travelling.”

 

Lena was surprised how right the words felt the second they slipped out of her mouth. She could do it. Whisk them both away to some far off place, sleeping in Barcelona and drinking their way through the rest of Europe and eating octopus in Greece.

 

Lena could-

 

“Don’t do that.”

 

Her thoughts snapped out of its daydreams, returning to look at Kara’s now hard face.

 

“Do what?” 

 

Kara gave her a severe look.

 

“Make plans for the future.”

 

Lena looked down, reality sinking in once more and she let out a sigh as she traced her fingers back down Kara’s chest.

 

“I guess we’re just going to have to compartmentalise it,” she answered, pushing Kara back down so she could hover over her once more. 

 

“Our friendship, the sex,” Kara mumbled, palming Lena’s hips. “Versus us being ideologically opposed to the future of this area?”

 

Lena arched an eyebrow.  


“Well, it doesn’t sound nearly as tragically romantic when you word it that way…..”

 

Kara let out a snort, looking her over with a curious expression.

 

“Who’s your favourite poet?”

 

Lena blinked in surprise at the strange question.

 

“My what?”

 

The other woman smiled.

 

“Come on, Ms Science and Business. Don’t tell me you’ve never dabbled in art and literature, with your big fancy education. Or was that too trivial for you?”

 

Lena’s eyes narrowed playfully at the teasing.

 

“Tennyson.”

 

Kara nodded thoughtfully.

 

“That makes sense… Hidden beauty and emotion, all layered in technical perfection,” she answered. “Tis better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all.”

 

Lena rolled her eyes.

 

“Well, everyone knows that line….”

 

Kara bit her lip, looking Lena up and down.

 

“Name a poem,” she challenged.

 

Lena blinked again.

 

“I’m sorry?”

 

“Name a poem,” Kara repeated. “Anyone of Tennyson’s.”

 

Lena stared at her for a moment.

 

“Ulysess.”

 

“Is that your favourite?”

 

Lena nodded.

 

“Yes.”

 

Kara thought for a second.  


“Death closes all: but something ere the end, some work of noble note, may yet be done. Not unbecoming men that stove with Gods.”

 

Lena let the words roll in the air.

 

“You know it…”

 

Kara gave her a proud smile.

 

“By heart.”

 

Lena was intrigued, smiling she spoke again.  


“What about Walt Whitman?”

 

Kara laughed.

 

“O, Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done. The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won.”

 

“Edgar Allen Poe.”

 

Kara threw her arms wide in theatrical passion.

 

“And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain thrilled me- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before.”

 

Lena pushed at Kara’s shoulder.

 

“Now you’re just showing off,” she muttered out.

 

Kara shrugged.

 

“I’m not a total hick.”

 

Lena softened and shook her head.

 

“Of course you’re not. You’re… you’re far too good for this place.”

 

Kara didn’t reply, just stared at her silently, making Lena uncomfortable.

 

“What?” She asked.

 

Kara hesitated before speaking.

 

“You’re looking at this place, but you do not see it.”

 

Lena frowned.  


“What does that mean?”

 

Kara gave her a long hard look.

 

“What did you feel, Lena?” She demanded to know. “When you were riding with me the other day? When I showed you around this place? When you see the stars at night?”

 

Lena took a sharp breath.

 

“I…”

 

She couldn’t answer; it was all too confusing.

 

Kara waited for the silence to stretch for a beat.

 

“What are you doing tomorrow?” She asked suddenly.

 

Lena rolled her head back and groaned.

 

“I have to work,” she insisted softly. “That’s why I’m here.”

 

Kara didn’t seem to take her words seriously, smiling once more.

 

“Well, as far as I can tell, the place isn’t going to disappear in the next day,” she replied dryly.“I could be wrong of course, but I highly doubt it.”

 

Lena let the words sway her, dancing on the edge of her mind with the endless list of unknowable feeling that had been formed that day.

 

“What did you have in mind?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did we enjoy? Was it all you hoped? Let me know in the comments below! Kudos, subscribe or come yell at me on Tumblr if you'd like :) Same user name!


	11. Tenderly Treading Water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, my head feels like a melon ready to split open today :/ 
> 
> Been a stressful few weeks, but here we go :)
> 
> The Eye - Brandi Carlile
> 
> Home With Her - John Gurney
> 
> Achy Breaky Heart - Billy Ray Cyrus
> 
> Hurricane - The Band of Heathens
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0tmhMTMSE2sxNRLoIiqrKr

A large thunk sounded out as Kara threw her large and ratty duffle bag onto the tray of the truck. It joined a wad of canvas and rods, which was probably the oldest tent in the world having been used by her grandparents, along with a beat up collection of other camping supplies alongside the trusty ‘Bucket’ that Kara had particularly fond memories of from the last time she had gone camping when she was a girl. 

 

Lena walked past her then, mumbling about bug repellent or bear repellant or something repellant, and Kara tried her level best not to let the woman see her grin. Ever since Kara had begun to pack supplies for this trip, Lena had hovered over her with a critical eye. She wasn’t even two minutes in before Lena had successfully deduced that Kara was packing for more than just one night away, and instead the entire weekend. Kara had mitigated the brewing argument about Lena spending time away from her work, by making her in charge of the list of things they were supposed to bring. Something that worked well to distract Lena from getting angry at Kara about dragging her away for the weekend, but instead made her furious about Kara’s lack of organisational skills.

 

Kara didn’t quite understand why Lena thought it essential to bring enough lamps to light up a football field, or nearly five pillows each, but telling Lena that she didn’t have all the ‘essential’ items Lena wanted didn’t end well for her ears. Instead, Kara just let Lena rattle around, creating small dust bowls in her wake, and bemoaning every time she shouted items to Kara and the farmer shook her head in response. 

 

She was starting to tie all the items down securely, careful to make sure the load was distributed according to Lena’s specifications when her father appeared by her side.

 

“Here,” he said softly, handing Kara the old map in his hand, watching Lena pace back and forth looking for signal and typing furiously while Oscar padded a pace behind her with his tongue lolling out.

 

Kara felt a flame of fondness curdle in her chest at the sight of the way Oscar positively fawned over Lena. 

 

“You sure she’ll be able to stay away from that thing long enough to enjoy the place?”

 

Kara’s levity died, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her father, instead taking the ratty map and tucking it into her shirt pocket. 

 

“It’s not like that, Dad,” she grumbled, hauling the busted up esky, the plastic screeching against metal as she pushed it along the truck bed. “She has to work.”

 

Her father looked at her, with unusually clear and discerning eyes. Frankly, a part of her was growing more and more concerned with the way the older man had been quiet over the past few days: no outbursts, no outcries, no drunken furies.

 

And when she’d walked out of the cottage this morning, the purple light peeking over the rough horizon, finding him sitting on the porch of the main with a cup of coffee in one hand and Oscar’s head in his lap, she had been given pause. Trying to remember the last time her father had even looked at Oscar, let alone scratched him behind the ears while staring off over the horizon pensively.

 

Something was definitely up.

 

“Don’t suppose you’ve forgotten what exactly her work is, have you?” He asked softly.

 

Kara frowned, looking back at Lena who was still pacing and dropping her pitch slightly before turning back to her father.

 

“I wouldn’t be doing this otherwise, would I?” She snapped back, crossing her arms and leaning back against the tray of the truck while staring him down, itching for the brewing argument.

 

He stared at her for a few seconds, silently with clouded eyes, before rocking back on his heels.

 

“You know, for someone fightin’ so hard to keep this place alive and ours,” he muttered, jutting his chin in Lena’s direction. "You’ve certainly got some odd tactics.”

 

One good thing Kara could honestly say was a hallmark trait of her father was that he genuinely had zero interest in buying into the gossip the rest of the town marred itself in. Mostly because he never interacted with anyone but Kara and a bottle these days. But still, the man wasn’t stupid, and Kara wasn’t delusional enough not to realise that she was spending her nights with Lena. Even though this recent edging the line of sobriety had sharpened his focus slightly on the world outside of himself made for a brief respite, his silent or not so silent judgement of her activities was something she could well live without. 

 

“It’s not odd,” she growled out. “It’s working.”

 

He stared at her for a long while but didn’t snap back. Instead, just taking a heavy breath before replying in a soft voice. 

 

“You know that even if she changes her mind, and it’s a long if, it ain’t going to make the rainscome any sooner.”

 

Kara felt a flash of panic at the resignation in his voice.

 

She took a step forward with a furrowed brow.

 

“With the money we’re getting from the cottage-“

 

He cut her off.

 

“The one that she’s renting, and will be vacant once she leaves-“

 

She growled over him in turn.

 

“We’ve got enough to get by.”

 

Her father just continued to stare at her and the panic that had been injected into her heart at his testing words still caused her heart to pound in her chest. The implication layered underneath, threatening to break the patched up wall she had erected to hold back the pressing nature of the situation they were in.

 

Kara’s eyes flickered to Lena once more, her worry not dying in the least.

 

“Another letter to the postbox in town from the bank today.”

 

She looked back at him with a frown, confused.

 

“How’d you know?”

 

A flicker of discomfort danced in his clouded eyes, and he scratched his grey stubble awkwardly.

 

“Eliza dropped if off when you were…. out.”

 

Kara arched an eyebrow at that.

 

“Eliza was here?” 

 

Kara couldn’t imagine why on earth Eliza would have been dropping off mail.

 

“Yeah,” he answered with a nod.

 

“And you two..?”

 

Her father scowled.

 

“Yes, Kara,” he muttered out. “I am capable of having a civil conversation with a woman I’ve known since I was knee-high. I’m not senile.”

 

She blinked at that, the words knocking her back slightly. Living with her father the way he had been for so many years now, it was jarring to remember that once he had been an actual member of this community. But Eliza coming around to drop off the mail was still weird.

 

“I didn’t…. are you sure you’re ok?” She asked again.

 

He snorted and flapped away her words.

 

“Well, the bank demanding their money does tend to make one worry.”

 

Kara let out a deep sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose.

 

“I’ll sort it out,” she murmured out, tense. “I’ve got it handled.”

 

To her shock and surprise, her father reached out a warm and steady hand to squeeze her shoulder tightly. Kara jolted on her feet, looking up at him as he gave her a soft look.

 

“You better watch yourself with that one, kid,” he replied softly, looking away from her. “I know you’re a Zorel, and we’ve always done things differently. But we also tend to lead with our hearts over our heads.”

 

The words sank into her stomach, mixing with the landfill of toxicity that was her life right now.

 

“It’s not like that,” she murmured.

 

He squeezed her shoulder again and gave her a sympathetic look.

 

“Then why is it,” he answered, pointing with his other hand to the map she had tucked into her pocket. “The first time you’re going up _there_ , you’re going with her?”

 

Asking him this morning had felt right. The idea that had sparked in her mind last night when Lena was looking at her with those shaded green eyes, something that had sat unlit in her mind for longer than she could ever remember. 

 

And then her father had agreed, listening quietly to her request before nodding once.

 

Kara shook it all out her mind, the image of her mother lingering in the corners of her mind.

 

“It’s…. I’m trying to… I’m trying to show her how to connect to….I’m trying to help her understand what this place means to us,” she replied. “And what it’ll do to us if she takes it away.”

 

Her father gave her a long look.

 

“Uh huh,” he drawled. “That what you been doing during the night…. and morning…. and afternoon. Connecting.”

 

The amusement in his voice made her spine stiffen.

 

“I would’ve thought _you_ of all people would know better than to gossip and put your nose in other people’s business,” she spat out with acid, turning back to the truck so she could slam the back closed so hard that flecks of rust fell off.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

She rounded on her heel, ready to get into it with the man but at the sight of him staring at her with any anger in his eyes, made the anger in her’s die. 

 

“I…. never mind.”

 

Her father frowned at that.

 

“This isn’t just about this place, Kara,” he replied. “I don’t want you to get hurt doubly. And you’re going to.”

 

Kara looked down at the ground, trying to bash away the ghostly spectre of her sensible self that seemed to have been starved in the corner of her mind ever since Lena had appeared in Argo.

 

“You have that little faith in me?” She asked quietly.

 

Her father let out a sigh.

 

“Kara, you’re my daughter, and I love you,” he said tiredly. "But sometimes when you get passionate about something… you think everyone else is right there on the ride with you.”

 

Every defensive instinct in her body suddenly lit, roaring with pain and anger at his words as her lip curled into a snarl.

 

“Because you would know,” she spat back, looking him up and down cruelly.”Drinking yourself into a hole.”

 

He looked ready to reply, but the sound died on his lips the second they parted to speak. Instead, he just nodded quietly at her words and took a step backwards and towards the house. Kara felt an instant wave of regret at what she had said, but couldn’t find the words to apologise. 

 

“Have a good time,” he whispered out, not looking as he turned and began to walk away.

 

Kara closed her eyes, worried and unsure what exactly was happening with her dad. Everything these days just seemed to be spiralling down faster and faster, to a place she couldn’t see. And all Kara could do was cling on with dear life and try to stop too many pieces from flying off. The truth was, she knew the line she was walking with Lena was dangerous. She knew better than anyone about the bills she had pilled up that hadn’t been paid, and the lack of money and this infernal drought that never ended. She knew better than anyone that the entire crux of her flimsy plan hinged upon Lena, a woman that had shown more conviction in her brief stay here than Kara had seen in her whole life, that the thing she was here to do was not only wrong… but that she should stop. 

 

And Kara knew, better than anyone, that the shaky line she was walking here with Lena was drawing far more of her attention then she should let it. There was a mountain of things that she needed to deal with, people that needed her help. The whole town was falling down the same path as Solitude, and the clock was ticking.

 

She just wished that she knew when it was going to ring.

 

Kara looked up when she heard the soft crunch of her shoes walking towards her, turning her head to eye the woman. Disparring at the sinking knowledge that the reason she had snapped at her father was that she was troubled that he might be right. Just looking at Lena, something that had made her want to explode with anger a few months ago, now made a part of heart melt. 

 

Kara’s pocket vibrated, and she reached to pull out the battered brick she’d had since high school. The old tough plastic’s green screen lighting up with a phone call from Alex. Kara frowned down at the name, feeling a flash of annoyance, before shoving back into her jeans. 

 

“How is it you get signal on that… _thing_ ,” Lena said with disgust and irritation. "But my phone won’t?”

 

Kara shrugged and gave the woman a half grin.

 

“Probably because it senses your frustration.”

 

Lena grumbled.

 

“You don’t even answer!”

 

Kara shrugged again, turning to hide her face as she began to tie down the gear she’d packed. 

 

“Right now,” she answered, knotting the end of a rope. "The only thing I want to focus on is the epic camping trip we’re going on.”

 

When she turned back to face her, Lena didn’t look happy.

 

“Oh, you mean the one that’s going to take up the _entire_ weekend?”

 

Kara snorted and pushed past her, walking back towards the cottage to collect the bag that Lena had packed.

 

“Pfff, you need to learn to relax,” Kara muttered out, her sour mood from the conversation with her father and the last argument she and Alex had lingering in her mind.

 

“You don’t even have bug repellant!” Lena shouted out, frustration leaking from her voice. 

 

Kara resisted the urge to roll her eyes, but once she picked up the bag and turned back to face Lena the annoyance vanished. It was clear that Lena agreeing to do this was a big step. Even though they had shared things in the dark of the night half a foot away from avoiding issues through sex, this was something different. 

 

The new unspoken game between them, pushing and pulling at each other to try and find ground and inches and cracks to understand the other. Something, anything to slip slightly into it so that they could sway them onto their side. 

 

And Lena coming on this trip with her meant she had given in somewhat, something that Kara knew didn’t come easily to the other woman.

 

Placing Lena’s bag gently into the back seat of the truck, she looked back at her and tilted her chin up with her fingers, staring into her troubled eyes with softness.

 

“We’ll pick some up on the way,” Kara replied with a tired smile. “We’ll be fine.”

 

Lena stared back at her, the uncertainty and flightiness not dying but making slight room for an inch of relaxation.

 

“So that you know,” Lena replied softly. “I have zero interest in doing this.”

 

Kara let her fingers drop slowly, tracing her eyes down with them and over Lena’s figure.

 

“If you had zero interest,” she lowly responded. “You wouldn’t be coming.”

 

Lena caught her fingers and her attention.

 

“Everything ok with your dad?” She asked.

 

Kara arched an eyebrow, and her mouth tightened.

 

“Fine,” she said flatly. “Everything ok with your brother?”

 

Kara wasn’t stupid, contrary to what half the people in this town thought of her. She knew full well that something had happened on the phone with Lex yesterday. Kara was well versed in tension between family members after all, and she knew well enough to guess that it probably had something to do with the fact that Lena still hadn’t managed to convince everyone in the area, or even the majority of them, to sell.

 

And it may have been low to bring it up, but Lena had started it.

 

The brunette just stared at her for a beat with narrowed eyes.

 

“Fine,” she replied tightly.

 

Kara nodded.

 

“Well good,” she muttered. “Then we’re both fine and ready to go.”

 

She turned and whistled sharply, Oscar looking up from the tree he was sniffing to run towards them and launch himself onto the back seat of the truck. Kara closed the door with a thunk behind him, before climbing into the driver’s seat herself and waiting for Lena to jump in, before peeling away from the house and starting to drive away.

 

They’d been driving on the main road to town for a few minutes when Lena finally broke the silence between them.

 

“How far away is this place?” She asked.

 

Kara shrugged.

 

“I dunno, two maybe three hours?”

 

Lena frowned and gave her a quizzical look.

 

“I thought you’d never left the area?” She asked

 

“I haven’t,” Kara replied, making a turn towards the west. “Never been to this place.”

 

Lena gave her an incredulous look.

 

“You’ve…. then why are you taking me!?”

 

Kara hesitated, her mind turning with words of how she could reply, before settling with another shrug and giving Lena a half grin.

 

“Because it’s special,” she murmured. “And it’ll be fun.”

 

Lena’s just stared at her but didn’t push her for another answer, instead turning to look back out the window in a broody silence.

 

Kara kept her eyes open as she drove further and further west, stopping briefly in Kandor for a few extra supplies that seemed to have perked Lena’s mood slightly. The country shifting and changing with every mile from Solitude. A part of her heart lurched slightly in her chest as they drove past the battered twenty miles to Kandor sign, realising that this was the furthermost she had ever been from home in her life. She kept her face schooled though, recognising that even though Lena hadn’t said a word, she would occasionally let her eyes flicker over to Kara’s face. 

 

The soil became rockier, and the scrub turned into tall trees, slowly morphine from rough roads to a proper bitumenised one that made the rattling truck cabin vibrate at an even higher frequency. Kara could feel the curiosity, a slight disgust, radiate off Lena when she pulled over occasionally to check their progress on the old map Kara’s father had given her. Kara kept her eyes keen and began to drive slower once she drove past the last landmark her father had told her about, well aware that Lena was staring at her curiously when she started to search the treeline. 

 

Kara slowly began to tense, wondering if after so many years the old path her parents had told her about had disappeared or if she had just missed it when she finally spotted the gap. Shooting the confused Lena a grin, Kara turned off-road sharply and left Lena to cling at the handle of the door with a pale face as they began to drive along the rough and bumpy path, the branches of the low trees they passed scrapping along the truck with high pitched screeches.

 

Kara’s worries began to slip away, making away for nervous excitement instead, trying not to laugh at the thin line of Lena’s mouth.

 

“Ok, can you please just tell me where we’re going?” Lena hissed, her teeth gritting when Kara made a sharp lurch to avoid a tree. “Or have you just driven me out into the middle of nowhere to kill me?”

 

Kara thought about it, half ready to answer when the breath suddenly left her lungs as they made a final turn and the truck slowly drifted to a stop. 

 

Through the break in the trees, sat the largest body of water Kara had ever seen. An old quarry mine that had long since been abandoned and filled with rainwater. The colour an otherworldly blue from the limestone. Kara’s eyes widened, just staring, and she slowly turned off the truck so she could step out and take a few steps towards it. 

 

It was smaller than in the photo, and Kara could see that the waterline had dipped a fair way from its original point. The opposite side of the quarry was lined with sharp cliffs; the original waterline edged along it from years of erosion.

 

“Kara?”

 

She heard Lena, but her voice seemed to drop away behind her in favour of her mind being filled with being in the presence of so much water. Kara couldn’t remember the last time she had seen so much of it in the same place at the same time. She didn’t think she’d ever seen as much. It was just what she’d always thought it would be like, and so much more. Hearing her mother’s voice as she told her the stories of how she and Kara’s father had known each other since they were children. Coming out to this place…

 

“Kara? Are you ok?”

 

She felt the prickle in her eyes and shook her head, stopping herself from tearing.

 

“Yeah, no… I’m… I’m fine,” she muttered, turning her back reluctantly on the lake and towards the truck. “Come on, best we get set up.”

 

* * *

 

Kara swore as she tripped over the tangle of ropes at her feet, landing in the pile of musty canvas. 

 

“What on earth are you doing?” Lena asked amusedly.

 

Kara scrambled to her feet, dusting herself off as she scowled under Lena’s amused gaze. The other woman was lounging on one of the foldable chairs they had packed under a nearby tree with Oscar lying across her feet.

 

“What, like you’re some big help?” Kara snarked, kicking at the old tent she had spent the past half an hour getting no closer to setting up. “Sitting over there in the shade on your phone.”

 

Lena shrugged.

 

“I’m not the one who wanted to go camping.”

 

Kara waved her away with a snort.

 

“Yeah, yeah…” She muttered, before picking the metal rods she had dropped and moving to thread them through the old canvas.

 

“That doesn’t go there.”

 

Kara turned to look at Lena sharply.

 

“How would you know?”

 

Lena groaned and stood to her feet.  


“Because I know how a tent is supposed to put up,” she replied, walking towards Kara and staring down at the mess she had made.

 

Kara eyed her suspiciously.

 

“Because you’re a camping aficionado?”

 

Lena pushed her to the side and picked up the rods.

 

“Get out of the way.”

 

Before Kara could even blink, Lena had managed to erect the tent, leaving the blonde flabbergasted when the other woman shoved the pegs and hammer at her chest before she moved to return to her chair.

 

“How… how…”

 

Lena shrugged.

 

“Let’s just say I went to a lot of music festivals as a teenager.”

 

Kara frowned, confused. The only festival she had ever attended being the country fairs or rodeos at Kandor. And though there had been music, Kara wasn’t quite sure what Lena was talking about was a universal experience.

 

“What’s that got to do with tents?”

 

Lena just stared at her for a second.

 

“You know, sometimes I forget that you and I come from two different worlds.”

 

Kara shrugged and grinned, gesturing around to the beautiful water.

 

“Yeah, but my world’s prettier,” she teased.

 

Lena looked her over slowly, making Kara flush lightly.

 

“It’s ok,” Lena finally said with a dismissive wave.

 

Kara scowled.

 

“Fuck off.”

 

* * *

 

  

Kara let out a groan as she slumped down in her chair, cracking a beer on her way and taking a sip as she took in the view of the water. A slow smile curled at the corner of her mouth at the site, a part of her lungs seemingly now dedicated to giving their breath away while staring at it. The dry air seemed to hum with the sound of dragonflies and the light wind rustling through the leaves of the trees. The small campsite was now unpacked, Kara happy that the hidden ex-quarry seemed to be all there’s alone today, mimicking the feeling of uniqueness from the stories her mother used to tell her about this place.

 

“I’ll give you this one,” Lena sounded out by her side. “It is pretty fucking beautiful.”

 

Kara smiled, looking over to take in Lena staring out over the water while wearing Kara’s hat, hanging low enough to shade her eyes from the sun after she had slathered sunscreen onto herself.

 

Kara reached into the cooler between them, popping a new bottle open and handing it to Lena.

 

The other woman nodded her thanks, taking her own appreciative sip. They sat in silence for a while after that, Kara enjoying the view as the soft breaths made ripples across the water before Lena spoke up. 

 

“So… you going to tell me what this place is to you?” She asked. “Or am I going to have to go on a scavenger hunt to find out.”

 

Kara smiled to herself, before reaching for her wallet and opening to pull out an old and weathered photo. She looked down at it with a smile, before handing it over gently.

 

“My parents used to come up here,” she explained. “This was their spot.”

 

Lena tilted her head before looking down at it. Kara watching as she took in the image of her parents from nearly thirty years ago, standing with their backs to the lack with broad smiles on their faces. They looked so much younger then, especially her father, and a million times happier then Kara could remember them being since she was small. 

 

Lena’s eyes traced the old photo carefully, before handing it back to Kara.

 

“And you’ve never been?” She asked.

 

Kara shook her head.

 

“Nope.”

 

Lena’s eyes became guarded.

 

“Must be pretty incredible being here than for you,” she said cautiously.

 

Kara let the words mull in her mind for a bit, looking down at the photo in her hand, her finger tracing along the grey lines cracking it. Taking in the youthful faces of her parents, their happiness radiating out and touching her. 

 

“This… My parents met when they were young,” Kara explained. “They knew each other since they were children and they were so in love.”

 

Her father hadn’t reacted when she asked for his old map to this place this morning, which was strange considering she couldn’t remember the last time they’d talked about it.

“This is where my father proposed to my mom,” she continued with a smile. “This is where they had their best memories that were just for the two of them.”

 

Kara looked away from the photo, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath of the earthy air.

 

“And it’s something that just always seemed like… ours,” she continued softly. “Not like Solitude. That’s the history of our family and blood running type of loyalty and meaning.”

 

She opened them to look back out over the water, the heaviness that she carried in her heart lightening somewhat. 

 

“But this is just… pure love,” she whispered, looking to Lena with shining eyes and a smile. “My parents love, that made me.”

 

Lena just stared at her, eyes flooded with uncertainty and wariness.

 

“And you brought me here…. Why?”

 

Kara hummed, reaching out her hand to take Lena’s and squeeze it.

 

“Because I’ve never had anyone to share it with,” she replied. “Until now.”

 

The panic in Lena’s eyes wasn’t hard to miss.

 

“Kara-“

 

She waved it away and cut her off.

 

“Not in that way,” she replied quickly. “I just thought that… My parents connected to something here. To themselves and each other. I thought maybe, by bringing you here with me, we could do the same.”

 

Lena stared at her, eyes mixed with warring emotions. Kara held her breath, waiting for an adverse reaction.

 

Eventually, Lena just sighed and nodded with resignation.

 

“So this is a bonding trip,” she muttered, taking a long sip of her drink.

 

Kara scoffed.

 

“You make it sound like I’m dragging you to do trust falls or something,” she teased with a smile.

 

Lena didn’t return it.

 

“I’m just unsure of what exactly you want from me.”

 

Kara stared at her for a few seconds. There was something unexplainable and magnetic about the presence that Lena just radiated. At even given time, no matter what she was feeling, it was like a cold fire that never died.An aura of something unique and different that Kara thought she could spend a lifetime searching for the source and would never find it. As if it was just ingrained into Lena’s very DNA. 

 

“If you could be anything, taking away every other bit of bullshit in your life. If you had one dream, deep down, something that you hold dear in your heart above anything else, what would it be?” Kara suddenly asked.

 

At her words, Lena looked away sharply as if she was pained. Standing to her feet quickly, she took one last pull of her beer.

 

“I’m going to go for a swim,” she said by way of reply.

 

Kara felt a slight dip of disappointment in her chest but didn’t take it too much to heart. Instead just let the train of thought go to be picked up on later.

 

“Ok,” she replied, watching as Lena peeled off her shirt and pants.

 

The other woman took a few steps towards the water, before hesitating and looking back over her shoulder. 

 

“You coming with me?”

 

Kara smiled.

 

==========

 

Oscar sneezed violently as Lena finally finished dousing herself in bug repellant, the odours gas even causing the small camp stove Kara had brought with them to flicker slightly. The old and battered radio that she had brought cracked in the background, churning out some old country song from the local broadcast of the area. Kara eyed Lena with an edge of amusement, the other woman having wrapped herself in a thick flannel shirt of Kara’s, despite the lingering heat, all in an attempt to keep the mosquitos off her person. 

 

They had spent the day rotating between the water and the shore, Kara slowly taking the time to drink herself into a pleasant buzz and trying to ignore the way that Lena would look at her with every new bottle that she opened. There was something incredibly peaceful about the day turn around you, and Kara was enjoying being able to do so for one without feeling the pressing urge to fix something or work somewhere, even a small injection of relaxation sending her into a spiral of guilt for not doing something she could be doing right now.

 

But here, in this place, it was like she could finally breathe. 

 

Her mother used to tell her stories, of her and her father discovering this place once when they went on a road trip during high school. Taking a random turn down a random road and ending up spending three days sleeping in the back of her Dad’s truck, probably doing things that Kara didn’t want to know about.

 

It was strange now to think of a time when her parents were both infatuated with each other to the point of keeping this place a hidden secret between the pair of them. Somewhere that they were only allowed to know about. Her mother had told her that the entire time she had known her father they had been nothing but friends. The road trip they had been on was supposed to have been a group one, involving two other people that cancelled at the last minute. And then her father had walked away from the weekend convinced he was going to marry her.

 

Not that she was going to tell Lena that, not needing the other woman to look at her like a startled rabbit half convinced that she was going to confess her undying love too.

 

Kara plated up the food she’d been cooking and handed it to Lena with a smile, the other woman taking it with a still uneasy look. Kara was barely able to sort out her plate when Lena spoke.

 

“About earlier-“

 

“It’s fine,” Kara cut her off quickly. "I don’t want to press you.”

 

Lena let out a disconcerted sigh at her words. 

 

“I don’t want you painting this image of who I am in your mind, only for that not to be true,” she returned. “I don’t want to feel guilty for shattering an image that you created. I’m never not myself. Maybe not all of myself, all the time, but this is who I am. And this is _what_ I am. I can’t change anything.”

 

Kara stared at her for a full minute, taking in the tense distractedness of her body and the tight line of her mouth. 

 

“Ok,” she answered, putting her plate to the side. “Who are you?”

 

Lena blinked.

  
“What?”

 

Kara smiled.

 

“I just want to know who you are. Tell me.”

 

Lena gave her a flustered look.

 

“I.. that’s not the point.”

 

Kara shrugged, before reaching for her plate again and taking a spoonful of food.

 

“Lena,” she said through a mouthful of beans. “If you want me to stop concocting a fantasy, you have to tell me.”

 

The other woman shifted uncomfortably.

 

“I have told you.”

 

Kara shook her head.

 

“No, you’ve told me bits of who you are,” she refuted.

 

Lena’s face darkened, and she scowled.

 

“I don’t have to tell you anything!”

 

Kara didn’t react to the shout, instead letting the sound echo over her as she just stared Lena down.

 

A few seconds passed, the radio still humming out a low tune, until Kara shrugged once more.

 

“No, you don’t,” she retorted. “But then you don’t get to jump down my throat for my mind filling in the blanks.”

 

Something pained flickered over Lena’s face, but she didn’t reply. Instead, she looked down at her plate and started to her vegetables moodily. Kara watched her out of the corner of her eye but focused instead eating her food, lest Oscar who was eyeing it greedily, steal her chicken when she wasn’t looking. It was only after she’d scraped the final spoonful of peas into her mouth that she turned back to Lena and spoke. 

 

“Why did you come with me today?”

 

The other woman looked up with a frown.

 

“Why, because… because…”

 

Her words trailed off, and Kara tilted her head slightly.  


“Yes?”

 

Lena seemed to be gathering her thoughts, eyes dancing away from Kara’s face to look out over the rippling lake for a few seconds, before turning back.

 

“Because for reasons I don’t quite understand, when I look at you I just…. You make me feel like I haven’t in a long time,” Lena admitted, sounding almost ashamed. “You make me feel like I’m finally… myself. And I wanted to keep that feeling going as long as possible. I don’t know why.”

 

Kara felt a flat of pleasant surprise grow in her heart at the words, even as Lena laughed at herself.

 

"If it were anyone else I think I might have killed them,” she snorted out. “Even Veronica, it was never quite… This feels more grounded and fantastical all at once.”

 

Her eyes suddenly widened.

 

“And I’m not trying to say that I’m falling in love with you or something!” She rushed to say, making Kara laugh. “But you’re just… different.”

 

Kara stared at her for a little while, a soft smile curling at the corners of her mouth.

 

“You’re different too.”

 

Lena frowned at her words and shook her head.

 

“No, I’m not,” she replied, a sharp bite in her voice. “You just think I am. But people like me… we’re all the same. It’s kill or be killed because everything is at so much higher stakes. At least in our minds, it is.”

 

Her eyes became frantic as if she was struggling to understand her feelings. Lena turned to look at Kara with hard eyes.

 

“You’re responsible for your land, yeah? Hell, let’s say you’re responsible for everyone in the area. The entire population of Argo. Every choice you make affects them all.”

 

Kara took the words in an nodded, unsure where exactly Lena was going with this.

 

“Ok.”

 

Lena nodded in turn and stood to her feet, waving her hands dramatically.

 

“So the population of Argo and surrounding areas, let’s be generous, is maybe two thousand. My company employees nearly a million people worldwide,” she continued, pressing her hand to her chest. “And me and my brother, we’re responsible for all of them. It’s up to us to make sure that they have jobs to come to the next day. It’s our… hell, it’s my job because Lex needs handholding all the time now when it comes to business choices.”

 

The distracted and stressed words seemed to slip out of Lena, almost as if she wasn’t supposed to say them aloud. Kara absorbed them carefully, filling away Lena’s admission with the rest of the small pile of information that the other woman had revealed about herself.

 

“Then why aren’t you the CEO?” Kara asked.

 

Lena frowned at her, confused.

 

“Because it’s his company.”

 

Kara frowned. 

 

“I thought you said it was both of yours?”

 

A dark emotion flickered across Lena’s face, something that Kara had trouble pinning down.

 

“It… technically it’s his company.”

 

It was like an uneven piece of the jigsaw had finally clicked together in Kara’s mind, and she finally nodded with some understanding.

 

“Ahhh.”

 

Lena frowned at her.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She demanded.

 

Kara shrugged.

 

“Nothing, just…”

 

Lena’s eyes narrowed.

 

“Just what?”

 

Kara hesitated briefly, before throwing caution to the wind.

 

“So it’s not just about the employees,” she replied. “You’re staying, because you’re loyal to him.”

 

Lena looked affronted.

 

“Of course I am! He’s my brother.”

 

Kara pursed her lips, before crossing her legs and leaning back in her chair.

 

“So let me paint the picture here, yeah?” She asked, gesturing in the air. “Your brother is your only family, the only one that matters anyway. And you feel like you owe him in some way.”

 

Lena looked ready to interject, but Kara didn’t let her get a word in.

 

"And you have like a billion degrees, in science and engineering and business and fucking everything,” she continued. “But you work for you brother in like… corporate real estate. But you also seem to manage the company on the side, but you don’t have the title… And it’s not even in your name. But he’s in charge and tells you what to do…”

 

She let the word hang in the air along with their implications.

 

Lena scowled fiercely.

 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she spat out.

 

Kara scoffed.

 

“Then tell me!”

 

Lena’s face looked ready to concave with frustration.

 

“Why?” She demanded harshly. “What difference will that make to anything?”

 

Kara sighed.

 

“It couldn’t hurt,” she muttered out. “What’d you think I’m going to do, film a documentary? You think there are secret cameras up and around here?”

 

Lena looked ready to explode at her sarcasm, but it seemed to die at her lips. Instead, she slumped back down in her chair and took a heavy breath. Taking a few seconds, Kara noticed with concern that Lena now looked on the verge of tears.

 

“My brother is a good man,” Lena whispered out brokenly, looking up at her with tears in her eyes. “He’s… the best person I know. He’s kind and smart, and he’s so funny.” 

 

She let out a breathless laugh, eyes lost in her memories.

 

“It’s nauseating how funny he is,” Lena continued. “And he picked me, over his mother. He saved my life, more than once. Lex was the one that taught me how to drive. He was the one who taught me how to drink. He taught me chess, and poker and how to get tailored for a proper suit-“

 

“You wear suits?”

 

Lena gave her a side-eyed look, Kara trying to school her mind from picturing that.

 

“He’s my best friend,” she continued. “And he’s the only person I love in the entire world. I couldn’t imagine a life without him in it. I know he’s a flawed man. I know he isn’t perfect, but everything he does… everything he is… Is about giving.”

 

Lena took a haggard breath.

 

“He’s the CEO of Luthor Corp because I didn’t want the job. He offered it to me. The only reason that I didn’t take it was that I didn’t think I’d earned it at the time. And now… I can’t bear to let it be taken away from him,” she admitted. “And he’s smart, he so smart. You know how with ruthless people you wonder what went wrong in them, what snapped to make them that way? Well with Lex it’s the opposite. You know everything that went wrong... about how our father was with him. And Lillian’s expectations… You know that he was born with a platinum spoon up his arse and he has the intelligence to go full blown psychopath. But for some, strange, outlandish reason… He just cares so fucking much.”

 

Kara watched silently as Lena’s voice cracked, a few tears slipping down her cheeks that she quickly wiped away.

 

“But he’s directionless without being who is right now,” Lena admitted, pained. “Lex Luthor… CEO.”

 

She finally turned to look at Kara, eyed shimmering.

 

“He may say he doesn’t want it, but it’s the role in life he was forged for. I can’t take that away from him. I don’t want to take it away from him. Because I don’t want it either.”

 

There was something else. Kara knew there was something else. Something that Lena warns saying, between the lines of everything else. The edge of desperation in her voice that called out to Kara’s heart, the familiarity begging to be heard and understood. 

 

“And you’d do anything for him,” Kara finished for her slowly.

 

Lena let out a breath and nodded.

 

“For him, for the people we’re responsible for… I owe them all that,” she whispered.

 

Her voice trailed off, and the sounds of nature filled the silence in its wake — bugs chirping as unseen animals rustled through the trees in accompaniment with the wind. But Kara just took a few minutes to stare at Lena, taking in everything about her, before she smiled and spoke in reply.

 

“You are different,” she said lightly, waving away the disbelieving look that Lena shot her. “You are. I’ll never meet anyone like you again. You remind me of…. me. But different at the same time.”

Kara had a thought and laughed, voicing it under Lena’s questioning eyes. 

 

“How do you think I’d do as a businesswoman?” She asked.

 

Lena arched an eyebrow.

 

“I’m not sure how well you’d do in an office…But I think you’d like the city.”

 

Kara made a face, Lena groaning at the sight of it.

 

“See? There you go again!” She exclaimed gruffly. “How do you know you’d never like it if you’ve never been?”

 

Kara’s nose scrunched in disgust.

 

“Because it’s just full of people crammed together,” she replied. “Everyone’s problems all jammed up in one small space, and you can’t ever escape.”

 

She looked out over the lake and frowned.

 

“I mean, I’m broke, but I’m still better off out here then I would be broke there,” she said, gesturing around. “At least I can sit and just fucking exist without the sounds of a million other souls pressing against my brain.”

 

Lena watched her for a few minutes with a curious expression.

 

“If you came to the city-“

 

Kara groaned.

 

“Lena-“

 

“No, stop,” the other woman cut her off firmly. “Don’t say I can’t say this. I’m not just shouting a pipe dream here. You got to take me out here; I get to tell you this.”

 

Kara resisted but didn’t last long, instead giving Lena a resigned nod.  


“Ok, shoot,” she muttered, reaching for a new beer and ignoring the rampant ferocity in Lena’s eyes when she did.

 

“I wouldn’t take you anywhere ridiculous,” Lena interjected. “No private helicopters or yachts or Michelin star restaurants. I’d take you to the park.”

 

Kara arched an eyebrow at that.

 

“The park,” she responded flatly.

 

Lena smiled at her confusion.

 

“Yep, and then to the National City Zoo.”

 

At that, Kara’s interest and excitement perked. 

 

“A zoo?”

 

Lena’s grin widened at the unbridled excitement in her voice, leaning back in her chair to eye Kara with amusement.

 

“Bet you’ve never seen a real penguin before, have you?” She teased.

 

Kara shook her head, remembering all the National Geographic documentaries she would watch voraciously when she was a child. 

 

Lena’s eyes twinkled with amusement.

 

“We’d spend hours at the zoo,” she continued. T”hen, we’d walk along the bay. You’d finally get to see the ocean for real. Because if you think this is a lot of water… well.”

 

Kara frowned, feeling affronted.

 

“I know what the ocean looks like,” she grumbled.

 

Lena laughed.

 

“But you haven’t seen it in person.”

 

Kara crossed her arms.

 

“….no,” she mumbled into her chest.

 

Lena let out another breathy laugh, but Kara found herself melting instead of annoyed at the sound. Looking over at her now, eyes lighting up with humour Kara couldn’t help but be proud that she had inspired the emotion in her. 

 

“So we’d keep walking and walking, and I’d show you the entire skyscape of the city,” Lena continued, waving her hands in the air as if she was pointing to the city in her mind. “All those amazing buildings and bridges that took so many people, so much time to build.”

 

She turned to look at Kara with a sparkling smile.

 

“And you’d be awestruck.”

 

Kara rolled her eyes, but Lena nudged her slightly with her hand.

 

“You would be,” she insisted once she had drawn Kara’s attention. “I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that cities can’t be dirty, or the people rude or the sound just too much, but there is so much life there, Kara.”

 

Kara watched as Lena let out a happy sigh.

 

“I’d take you to a food festival, and you could eat things from all over the world from booths!”

 

Kara found her resisting walls easing somewhat under the mention of different food. Looking down to the collection of cans that she had opened and they had both eaten for dinner, her tongue began to water for the taste of something considerably more delicious.

 

Her attention was drawn away, when Lena touched the skin of her arm softly, pulling her gaze back up and into hers. Kara’s heart quickened at the dark intensity within them. Without a soft rustle, Lena stood to her feet and slinked over to Kara, observing her as she eased herself into the blonde’s lap. 

 

“We could go to a club,” Lena whispered, her fingers tracing down the skin of Kara’s chest gently, making the farmer’s breath catch. 

 

“And it can still be shit, because people are,” Lena murmured leaning in, her breath hitting Kara’s ear. 

 

“But we could spend time with people that don’t care if we hold hands,” Lena continued in a whisper. “Or kiss in front of them. Safe spaces.”

 

Kara’s eyes fluttered as Lena’s nails scraped over her skin, giving her goosebumps even in the thick heat that enveloped them. When they opened again, Lena was staring down at her, silhouetted by the dim lamp Kara had set up in the corner of the camp. With a soft breath of understanding, she curled her fingers in hair, and she pressed a deep kiss against Kara’s lips. The farmer groaning into it when Lena’s tongue demanded entrance. 

 

Kara moaned when Lena pulled back, and almost felt herself chasing Lena for more contact before she regained some semblance of sense and let her thoughts return to her.

 

Letting out a breath as Lena stood back up and returned to her seat, Kara followed her with her eyes and let out a sigh.

 

“That sounds… interesting,” she finally breathed out in response.

 

Lena frowned slightly. 

 

“But you’re still not sold?” She asked.

 

Kara let out a troubled sigh, turning away from Lena to look out over the now darkened lake. 

 

“I don’t do cities,” she returned.

 

Lena let out a disconcerted grunt.

 

“You do realise cities aren’t like a hive of sin,” she muttered. You’re not going to have your virtue-“

 

Kara cut her off quickly.  


“That’s not the reason,” she answered.

 

Her words trailed off, and she would have been content to leave it at that when she noticed Lena eyeing her with deep frustration. Kara hesitated for a moment, the low crackling of radio still sounding out while she struggled to decide what to do, but instead took a deep breath and decided to tell the truth. 

 

“It’s just… my cousin.”

 

Lena frowned, confused.

 

“Your cousin?”

 

Kara sighed, looking back out over the water and trying not to let herself become drowned in the memories and feelings she had long shunted to the side with little success.

 

“When we were growing up we both had the same dream,” she began slowly, memories dancing now in her mind of a time years ago. “We were going to inherit Solitude and run it together. The same way our family has always run things.”

 

She reached up to rub the sides of her head, uncomfortable with the way the betrayal still carved out a wound in her heart every time she let herself think of it. The memories of the close bond she had shared with her cousin during her childhood rippling up and bubbling in her chest.

 

“He was the one that helped teach me how to ride, Lena,” she whispered out. “He was the one that took me camping. Just local stuff, you know. The next farm over. He taught me about everything. How to flirt, how to swear.”

 

Memories of Clark letting Kara tag alone to barn dances, taking her around to James’ when they would work on cars together and listen to bad music and laughing together. Clark teaching her how to shoot, competitions nailing cans out the back of the house fierce between them.

 

Good memories so horribly stained now.

 

“He was my Lex, ok?” Kara admitted, feeling the back of her eyes burn. “And I thought that that dream that we had was unbreakable. But then his parents died… and then my mom. And he just… he just drifted too.”

 

Kara scratched her nails along the rough edge of her jeans with a sad frown.

 

“The last day we spent together, we drove out to the farm near Kandor,” she whispered, the story she had never told anyone slipping off her lips. 

 

"I’d been quiet since mom’s…”

 

The words died, and Kara swallowed.

 

“Since she passed,” she finished, looking back to Lena with a tight smile. “It was hard, and I was surprised that he wanted to spend the day with me because he had been so distant lately. I didn’t know where we were going, but we rocked up at the old Kent farmhouse with this beautiful barn. We got out of the truck, shook the hand of old Mr Kent and walked over to find this tornado of puppies just rolling around in the dirt of a stall fighting, and Clark just looked at me and told me to pick one.”

 

Kara looked down to the dog at her feet, Oscar half asleep and he leaned against her quietly. Kara reached down gently and stroked his rough fur with a smile.

  
“And I remember feeling guilty,” she continued, feeling Lena’s eyes on her. “Because I was so broken, that I was looking at these beautiful puppies and I didn’t feel anything. Nothing at all.”

 

Kara looked back up at Lena with a watery smile.

 

“I mean, who looks at puppies and doesn’t fall totally in love?” She asked. “Then I got mad. Mad at him for doing this without asking me and I was ready to run back to the truck when I got this sudden pain in my ankle. I looked down, and there was this, gorgeous, fiery, rowdy pup gnawing at the back of my heels without a care in the world. We didn’t even know how he’d gotten out, but he’d rolled in something particularly smelly. But the second we locked eyes; it was as if a part of my heart just started again.”

 

Almost as if sensing Kara was talking about him, Oscar peeled an eye open and looked up at her. Kara half ready to burst into tears at the pure, deep love and devotion rolling off of him just in that steady gaze.

 

“He got you Oscar,” Lena said softly.

 

Kara nodded, trying not to sniff.

 

“He did indeed,” she muttered, her mood darkening. “And the next day he followed his girlfriend to college and never came back. We didn’t even know that he was leaving until we found the letter.”

 

Kara’s brow pinched at the memory.

 

“He never said goodbye,” she spat out, fists clenching. “He lives in National City too. He was so ashamed of the family name that he changed it. Goes by Clark Kent now, if that isn’t ironic.”

 

Kara’s mouth twisted in disgust.

 

There was a short pause, broken slightly when the radio crackled over to a new song before Lena spoke in a soft voice. 

 

“And you don’t talk?”

 

Kara sighed.

 

“He’s still friends with James. The-“

 

“Mechanic.”

 

Kara nodded.

 

“James is married to Lucy, that’s Lois’ sister. The girl that Clark followed,” she muttered out. “They’re getting married now too. He called again maybe about a year after he left, and we kind of talked for two minutes. Other then that, it’s been sporadic. James gave him my mobile number, and I don’t know why. We don’t have anything to talk about anymore.”

 

Kara’s scowl deepened at the memory of the last phonecall that she and Clark had. Him asking her to his wedding, with nothing but sheer nerve. It never failed to astound her that no matter when they spoke, they never actually said anything to address the deep chasm he had created between them.

 

“He made his choice, without me,” she spat. “He left dad and me. He….”

 

The words choked in her throat, and she couldn’t finish them. 

 

“He left you alone… with your father.”

 

Kara bit her cheek, trying with all her might not to cry.

 

“I know that it’s not right for me to be angry at him for wanting to get out,” she growled out. “But he was a coward. And every time he calls he wants to empathise with me about the situation like he has a clue at all.”

 

Kara slammed her hand down viciously onto her thigh, hard enough that she was sure she’d have a bruise tomorrow.

 

“I’m the one who’s been here,” she continued harshly. "I’m the one that’s seen the worst of it. I’ve lived with it, not him.”

 

Her cheeks flushed with anger, and she turned to Lena in frustration. 

 

“He thinks he’s still owed an equal voice or something. And it sounds terrible, but a part of me is terrified that when Dad dies that Clark is just going to turn up and demand that the place is half his.”

 

Kara’s lower lip began to wobble at the very thought. Enemies were pounding down the castle walls on all sides, demanding their pound of flesh like the vultures.

  
“And it’s not!” She shouted out, starting to cry. “He abandoned it. I’ve paid the earth with blood, sweat and tears and he doesn’t deserve to have even a rock of it. He walked away from it; he should stay away.”

 

Kara took a long and struggled breath, trying to calm her racing heart.

 

“Maybe he just wants a relationship with you,” Lena interjected softly. 

 

Kara rounded on her with blazing eyes.

 

“Then he shouldn’t have left!” She shouted out.

 

The words rung in the air and Kara’s hands began to shake violently. This wasn’t something she liked to relive or reveal — the core fractures of herself and her deep uncertainty for the future.

 

Her future, and the fact that everyone seemed to be moving forward in their lives in even the smallest of ways, except for her.

 

“Kara,” Lena said softly. “I don’t know your cousin… but it sounds to me like he was in a bad place himself. His parents died and then his aunt followed leaving him with a shitty future and an uncle that was deteriorating. His girlfriend was leaving for the city, and maybe he just wanted to follow the love in his life to a better place.”

 

Kara closed her eyes, trying to block the hot tears that slipped out.

 

“So he just didn’t love me enough to stay?” She croaked, feeling shattered and broken.

 

Lena shifted, reaching for her hand to grip in tightly with her own.

 

“As I said, I don’t know your cousin,” she whispered again, squeezing Kara’s fingers. “But look at him and tell me if you think Clark doesn’t love you.”

 

Kara opened her eyes to see Oscar sitting in front of her, his tail lowly thumping against the earth as he stared into her face with his deep brown eyes.

 

“Maybe he felt guilty because he knew he was leaving, but he wanted to leave you with at least one memory of him that you wouldn’t resent,” Lena finished.

 

Kara let out a heavy breath, smiling wetly at her one faithful companion and reaching out with her free hand to scratch him gently behind the ears. Oscar leaned into the touch, relaxing enough to let his heavy tongue loll out as he started to pant, making Kara smile.

 

“Maybe…” She whispered in response.

 

She stared down at him for a beat, her mind warring with emotions before she looked over at Lena with an exhausted gaze.

 

“He never came back, Lena,” she whispered out. “I don’t ever want to go to a place that makes me forget who I am.”

 

Lena looked back at her with barely clouded disappointment.

 

“Who people are changes, Kara,” she murmured out.

 

Kara smiled weakly, pulling up their joined hands to press a quick kiss to the back of Lena’s fingers.

 

“Not this,” she murmured out. “Not for me.”

 

It was dark enough now for Kara to almost miss the flicker of pain in Lena’s eyes at her words, and a part of her heart ached.

 

Before she could say anything, Lena pulled back with a cough, looking towards a tree ten metres away that Kara had strategically placed ‘The Bucket’ under. The thick container sitting solidly next to a long stick shoved into the ground with some toilet paper flying in the air. 

 

“Why does ‘The Bucket’ have a bullseye painted on it?”

 

Kara felt her mood soar slightly at the mention of the roughly painted red dots.

 

“When I was ten, Alex and I got into a fight when we were camping…. and I may have emptied the Bucket over her head.”

 

Lena’s face curled in disgust, and she let go of Kara’s hand quickly.

 

“Ughhh, Kara!”

 

Kara let out a weak laugh.

 

“What?” She shrugged with a wide grin, her tears drying as humour filled her chest at the memory. “It was funny at the time!”

 

Lena shook her head.

 

“Probably traumatic!” She exclaimed, voice riddled with revulsion.

 

Kara shrugged, non-plussed.

  
“She tried to empty it over mine too!”

 

Lena’s face seemed to pale even more than usual. 

 

“Ughhh, you’re a pig,” she sniffed.

 

Kara let out another laugh.

 

“What?” She teased with a grin. “Anyway, the next day my Dad painted a bullseye on it, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Alex scowl that much. She swore revenge of course, but she didn’t speak to me for about a week.”

 

Lena shuddered.

 

“I would never talk to you again,” she said acidly.

 

Kara waggled her eyebrows dramatically.

 

“Well, that rules out tomorrow morning’s activity.”

 

Lena leaned back in her chair, eyeing her carefully.

 

“Oh, you have activities planned?”

 

Kara smiled at that, feeling a flicker of happiness in her chest.

 

“Sure do.”

 

Lena stared at her for a beat, the radio crackling in the background before churning over onto a new song. Kara’s ears perking at the soft tune. She looked back over at Lena with a smile, a thought growing in her mind and she stood to her feet.

 

“Dance with me,” she asked.

 

Lena blinked.

 

“What?”

 

A smile stretched over Kara's face, and she held out her hand. 

 

“Dance with me.”

 

Lena stared at her hand for a brief pause, before taking it without a word and letting Kara pull her up to stand. She tugged her over carefully to a clearer spot, Oscar watching them both with perked ears, steadily put her hand on Lena’s waist as she directed them into a soft sway.

 

It took a small while for the uncertainty and stiffness in Lena’s frame to dissipate, but once it did Kara could easily tell that between the two of them she was by far the superior dancer. Though, guessing Lena’s upbringing, she’d probably been dancing ballroom waltzes before Kara had even learned how to count.

 

“You don’t seem like the type to slow dance,” Lena said quietly as Kara rotated them slowly on the spot.

 

Kara looked down at her with a cocky grin and an arched eyebrow.

 

“I’m not all country yeehaw, you know.”

 

Lena snorted.

 

“Sure….”

 

Kara let out a breath, her fingers pressing gently against the skin of Lena’s hip.

 

“I bet you do this all the time,” she whispered, resting her cheek against the side of Lena’s head. 

 

“Fancy balls and dinners and stuff.”

 

Lena laughed lightly.

 

“You think I’m Cinderella?” She teased.

 

Kara shrugged, smiling.

 

“You just might be,” she retorted. “I could get you a glass slipper.”

 

Lena nodded against her chest, both of them dancing quietly to the soft croon echoing from the radio. 

 

“What song is this?” Lena asked.

 

“I don’t know,” Kara replied. “But I like it.”

 

Picking up on the tune and lyrics, she started to hum in unison, Lena letting out a sudden groan.

 

“What?” Kara asked, looking down at her with surprise.

 

“Of course you can sing,” Lena muttered by way of reply.

 

Kara halted their movements and looked down at her with an arched eyebrow.

 

“You got something against singers?”

 

Lena huffed, taking a step back and gesturing her up and down.

 

“No, I just… it fits perfectly with your everything.”

 

Kara stared at her silently, before retaking her seat suddenly.

  
“Go on then,” she said. “You give it a go.”

 

“Me?” Lena squeaked.

 

Kara nodded encouragingly.

 

“Sure, go on.”

 

Lena shook her head in response.

 

“I can’t sing.”

 

Kara shrugged.

 

“Then I’ll sing it for you,” she interjected. “You just tell me the lyrics.”

 

Lena gave her an uncomfortable look.

 

“I don’t really….”

 

“Oh, come on,” Kara said with a smile. “There’s got to be something. Bach? Mozart? Taylor Swift?”

 

Lena smiled at that, before taking a deep breath and eyeing Kara uncertainly.

 

“Well, there is one song that I know… Kinda.”

 

Kara gestured for her to continue.

 

“And…?”

 

Lena winced.

 

“It’s just…. the last time I remember singing it I was four,” she muttered out. “My mother… my birth mother, she wanted me to remember her. It was the song that she sang to me before she died. I don’t remember everything about her, but I remember that song. She had a beautiful voice.”

 

Kara’s curiosity peaked, her heart softening at the love and longing rolling off of Lena’s voice. 

 

“What’s it called?” She asked softly.

 

Lena smiled down at her feet.

 

“A Stor Mo Chroi,” she answered, the foreign words rolling off her tongue in a rough accent that sent shivers down Kara’s spine. “It means, treasure of my heart.”

 

“What’s it about?” Kara asked.

 

Lena looked away and across the water.

 

“It’s about love, family…. not forgetting,” she whispered brokenly.

 

Kara frowned, unhappy that she had made Lena’s mood dip. In response, she stood to her feet once more with a smile.

 

“Want to know my favourite song?” She asked. “There’s no contest.”

 

Lena looked back at her, the dark not totally hiding the glaze in her eyes.

 

“What?” She asked.

 

Kara’s grin widened.

 

“Achy Breaky Heart.”

 

Lena stared at her in shock for a few seconds, before letting out a deep cackling laugh.

 

“Oh, no!”

 

Kara laughed in turn and began to shimmy dramatically over to Lena.

 

“Oh, yes,” she refuted. “Absolutely. Nothing can beat it. Can you think of a single song more likely to get stuck in your head? It’s got to at least be up there with Cotton Eye Joe.”

 

Lena watched her with amused embarrassment as Kara started to press up against her.

 

“No… just no.”

 

Kara laughed, starting to sing in an exaggerated southern accent.

 

“But don't tell my heart. My achy breaky heart. I just don't think he'd understand-”

 

“KARA!”

 

* * *

 

Kara shifted awkwardly under the blanket, her side screaming with pain. Somehow during the night, Lena had managed to slowly nudge her off the inflatable mattress and onto the hard ground next to it. A rock being her only company as it dug solidly into her ribs. She blinked groggily, eyes pricing the darkness to find that tent was empty except for her and Oscar, the large dog laying flat on his back and snoring happily on the entire stack of pillows. Kara glared at him in annoyance before sitting up with a groan, she stretched slightly, before crawling out of the tent on her hand and knees. Kara took in the soft pink light, rippling off the water that still parched Kara’s throat the second she looked at it. But her eyes instead focused on Lena’s back, crouched and staring through the soft mist rolling off the lake to a thin shape. Kara carefully stepped towards Lena, finding herself yanked down to the ground and trying not to smile when Lena hushed her seriously, before turning back her wide eyes to the edge of the Lake.

 

The mist cleared slightly, and Kara realised what had Lena so entranced.

 

A young buck was drinking quietly at the waters edge, not more than ten metres from them, seemingly oblivious to their presence. Kara looked over at Lena’s face, eyes tracing the lines of awe and deep entrenchment and felt her heart start to glow with a new feeling. 

 

Lena squeezed her hand suddenly, and Kara looked back up to see the buck now watching them, eyes burning into theirs as he stood proudly in the beautiful morning light, the sunrise glowing around his silhouette.

 

None of them breathed for what felt like an eternity before the buck turned on his hooves and trotted away and back into the forest. 

 

Lena’s iron grip on her hand died, realising it along with a sigh.

 

“Wow,” she breathed out.

 

Kara turned to look at her, eyes tracing every feature as her pale skin seemed to glow under the newfound pink light of morning. Her heart lurched in her chest, and her breath caught.

 

“Yeah,” she breathed out, quickly averting her eyes before Lena could catch her staring.

 

She stood to her feet, holding out her hand for Lena to take.

 

“So what do you want to do today?” The other woman asked as they made their way over to the camp stove.

 

Kara grinned at her words, pointing across the lake.

 

“See those cliffs over there?”

 

Lena eyed them, looking back at Kara warily.

 

“Yeah?”

 

Kara’s grin widened.

 

* * *

 

 

“You’re insane,” Lena said tightly.

 

Kara grinned.

 

“Never denied it.”

 

Lena looked at her like she was crazy.

 

“You have no idea how deep it is below us!”

 

Kara looked over the age of the cliff they were standing on, straight down the sharp drop into the deep blue water below.

 

“Mom told me she and dad used to do this all the time,” she said by way of reply.

 

Lena scoffed.

 

“Yeah, but now the water has receded because of the drought.”

 

Kara waved her concerns away.

 

“It was an old quarry,” she replied breezily. “It’s like 80 feet straight down from the water line still.”

 

Lena turned to give her a flat look.

 

“You don’t know this about me, Kara and it may come as a shock,” she replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. “But I actually haven’t fantasised about jumping off a cliff.”

 

Kara grinned.

 

Cliff jumping was the main reason that Kara had always been interested in coming out to her parent's spot. Something her mother used to tell her was the greatest rush you could ever feel. But the last thing she was going to do was force someone to jump off a cliff with her. 

 

“If you don’t want to, that’s fine.”

 

Lena let out a heavy breath.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Kara nodded, before turning back to the water.

 

“I’ll meet you back at the site!” She returned, bracing herself to jump. 

 

Before she could though, Lena’s voice interjected and left her wobbling lightly on her feet.

 

“Wait, you’re still going in?”

 

Kara huffed.

 

“Of course I am.”

 

Lena stared at her with wide eyes, looking between Kara and back to the water rapidly a few times. A few more seconds passed before she threw her hands up into the air and walked back towards Kara’s side.

 

“Fine!” She shouted out tensely, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

 

Kara eyed her carefully.

 

“You sure?” She asked.

 

Lena nodded tightly.

 

“Yeah.”

 

A few quiet seconds passed, Kara reaching out to take Lena’s hand in her own and squeezed it.

 

“I swear,” Lena murmured. “This is a safety hazard.”

 

Kara eyed her with amusement.

 

“Not everything in life can have rubber guards on it, Lena,” she replied. “Sometimes you’ve just got to go with it.”

 

Lena peeled open one eye and glared at her with it.

 

“Fine.”

 

Kara smiled.

 

“You ready?”

 

Lena nodded sharply.

 

“Yes.”

 

Kara’s smile widened, looking back out at the water.

  
“Ok, so we’re going to take a bit of a running start and launch off as fast as possible, keeping our legs straight-“

 

“When we hit the water, I understand physics, Kara.”

 

Kara bit back a grin at the irritated panic in Lena’s voice, instead giving their still joined hands a tight squeeze.

 

“Take a breath.”

 

Lena did as bid, both of them waiting a few seconds before they launched off together. The air whipped around them, Kara’s heart pounding in her chest as time seemed to slow down. The water growing closer and closer and Kara’s mind emptied as it flooded with adrenaline and leaving her with only one tether, Lena’s hand in her’s before they crashed into the water with a cold splash. The leftover breath knocked out of her lungs as they both descended into the darkness, rushing back up once she broke the waterline Kara took in a sharp gasp of air. Kara’s eyes adjusted to the blinding light once more and her whole body seemed to flood with deep set happiness. Turning in the water to see Lena doing the same, Kara watched as Lena suddenly threw her head back and let out a breathtakingly beautiful laugh.

 

The unused feeling in her chest came flooding back, and all she could do was stare at Lena treading water.

 

After a few seconds, Lena shifted onto her back, staring lazily up at the sky and began to speak distractedly.

 

“I was five years old when I first fell in love with a girl,” she breathed out gently. “Well, as much as any five year old can fall in love with anyone. She was the daughter of one of the gardeners. Bit of a cliched tale maybe, but I had spent the past year living with the Luthors and feeling more alone in the world then I don’t think many people would understand.”

 

Kara floated slowly towards her, twisting onto her back too so she could join her in staring up at the sky.

 

“It’s a sort of shattered hurt,” Lena continued. “Losing everything only to be dumped into a new life with people that…. You carry it in your heart. But I was reading under a tree one day when this girl just… appeared. She was missing her two front teeth, and I remember that she was the first child my age in a year that didn’t seem scared of me. She wasn’t like all the other socialite children I was forced to spend time with, all reciting Latin under their breath and becoming clones of their parents. She asked me what I was reading.”

 

Kara tried to imagine the image that Lena was painting in her mind and reached out with her hand in the water so she could once again catch Lena’s loose fingers.

 

“What was it?” She asked, squeezing them as they floated side by side.

 

“To Kill A Mockingbird.”

 

Kara laughed gently.  


“Isn’t that a little heavy for a five-year-old?”

 

“Not for me.”

 

Kara hummed, watching as the clouds drifted across the sky.

 

“We spent to whole day together,” Lena continued. “Running around, getting dirty and muddy. And I just remember this feeling in my chest when I looked at her. Gummy smiles and laughter and just being a child, but there was something else. Just this lightness and adoration.”

 

Kara’s brow pinched, the words striking a familiar cord and echoing the strangeness in her chest. 

 

“What happened?” She asked quietly.

 

Lena paused for a few seconds, before twisting around in the water, so she was once again steadily kicking. 

 

“The next day, she and her father were gone,” she answered. “I don’t know exactly what happened, but I can guess that he was fired. Lillian would never let me consort with peasants. The weird part is, I can’t even remember her name, but I know that in that afternoon I fell in love with her.”

 

Before Kara could reply, Lena was swimming, Kara unable to catch her until they were both back on the opposite shore, Oscar waiting where he had been commanded to stay with a wagging tail.

 

“She was lucky,” Kara called after Lena, squelching up behind Lena.

 

Lena grabbed a towel, patting her hair dry lightly as she turned to face Kara with a critical eye. 

 

“Her father got fired,” she said flatly. 

 

Kara gave her a gentle smile, not missing the vein of pain in her voice.

 

“But she got to spend the afternoon with you.”

 

Lena didn’t seem gladdened or flattered by her words, her mouth instead twisting with anger. 

 

“The people that enter my orbit, Kara… they just end up getting hurt,” she muttered darkly, before eyeing the space between them as if it might burn her.

 

“What are we doing?” She suddenly asked.

 

Kara blinked, her heart pounding in her chest for a reason she couldn’t quite understand. 

 

“What do you mean?” She asked.

 

Lena’s hands began to shake violently, and Kara felt a flash of worry. Ready to take a step forward to calm her, but the other woman held her back with a sharp shake of her head.

 

“This is…. You and I…. There are some minds that aren’t ever going to be changed,” she choked out.

 

Kara’s eyes widened when she noticed the tears that had started to fall down Lena’s face.

 

“Why are you crying?” Kara whispered.

 

Lena covered her face with her hand.

 

“Because I can see where this is going,” she answered. “And I’m going to break your heart.”

 

Kara stopped, her breath catching at the words. The feeling that had been growing in her chest, growing ever since she had first met Lena, finally clicking into line.

 

Taking a slow step forward, Kara spoke in a gentle voice.

 

“How about you let me worry about that.”

 

Lena shook her head.

 

“Kara-“

 

The farmer reached out and grabbed her hand, stopping the woman from saying anything else. She pulled her close slowly, watching with pain as Lena’s tough facade seemed to melt in front of her totally. Kara wrapped her arms around Lena gently, the other woman slowly collapsing against her and starting to cry into her shoulder.

 

Kara shushed her softly, stroking her wet hair gently. 

 

“Let me worry about my heart, ok?” She whispered into her ear.

 

Lena clutched at her tightly.

 

“I don’t want to hurt you,” she cried out. “Please remember that I don’t want to hurt you.”

 

Kara’s brow furrowed in concern, the unseen things lingering in Lena’s voice threatening to break the closeness between them faster than anything else possibly could. 

 

Kara knew this was never supposed to have happened. That this whole situation was probably headed for a disastrous fiery end, but Kara had to believe that there must be a possibility somewhere for things to end well for both of them. Because now she realised that Lena was right, and she understood that strange feeling in her chest that had been going since the first instant that they had met. The fire, the anger, the insults… 

 

Everything leading up to them crashing together like they were now.

 

This was what love felt like.

 

“Hey, hey… it’s ok,” Kara whispered into Lena’s ear, shoving her feelings deep down. “I’ll remember. I won’t forget.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did we enjoy? Was it all you hoped? Let me know in the comments below! Kudos, subscribe or come yell at me on Tumblr if you'd like :) Same user name!


	12. Sleeping With The Enemy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, well I know it's been a while, but in my defense this chapter is huge. Hope you enjoy! 
> 
> As ever, the playlist for this fic and the songs to listen to for this chapter.
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/user/chulafirula/playlist/0tmhMTMSE2sxNRLoIiqrKr?si=G7VjZsB1QGyot6yNXuRntw
> 
> Cycling Trivialities by José González  
> Bright Light by Mount Moriah  
> Deer Creek Canyon by Sara Cahoone  
> American Remains by The Highwaymen  
> Hurricane by Bob Dylan  
> Cowboy Take Me Away by the Dixie Chicks  
> Jackson by Johnny Cash  
> Landslide by Fleetwood Mac  
> Love Story by Taylor Swift

Lena let a few seconds pass out of respect after the man had dropped the pen on top of the contract, the final stroke done before she slid back across to her side of the table and inspected it briefly. Satisfied that he had signed everywhere he needed too, she popped the latches on her briefcase and slipped the contract inside. 

 

The man across from her was as white as a sheet, head in his hands as he stared down at the table between them. Lena stared at him for a few more seconds and not for the first time in her long career of dealing in the same situation; she felt unsure of herself. Summoning some of her waning strength, she stiffened her spine and let calm and practised words slip from her lips.

 

“You’ve made the right choice, Mr Martin.”

 

The grizzled old farmer lifted his head, looking up at her with bloodshot eyes and so many deep lines carved into his face from all the years he’d weathered. 

 

“Have I?” He croaked, the despondency and fear still rolling of him so firmly Lena had to brace herself.

 

There was a small, awkward, silence before Lena nodded and stood to her feet, clutching her case tight.

 

“Yes,” she answered, feeling more uncomfortable then she had ever been the longer she stood in this man’s presence.

 

Not wanting to drag out the horribleness of it all, Lena moved to leave but was halted by more of the man’s croaked words.

 

“I heard whispers,” he husked. “About you and the Zorel girl. She’s a good one.”

 

Lena’s face was hidden, but her mouth still twisted and the uncomfortableness that had been growing within her so quickly she wasn’t entirely sure when it had started, rose once more. 

 

The past month Lena had felt the hastily scrawled line between the person she was with Kara and the person she was with everyone and everything else blur and merge in a way that was entirely too cruel. Lena knew she wasn’t the best person, far too prone to ruthlessness to ever be, but she liked to think she wasn’t maliciously evil. The right thing to do after Kara had taken her to the place her parents had gotten _engaged,_ held her close and looked down at her with those soft blue eyes.

 

_Let me worry about my heart._

 

Lena tried to school her breath, turning her head slightly. 

 

“I don’t see how that’s…“

 

She should say relevant, but the words died on her lips. How could it be anything but relevant? Lena was breaking every single ethical rule she could think of, professionally and personally, and for what? Caught up in the romanticism of everything that Kara positively exuded out of her skin.

 

Waking up in the morning at that quarry before Kara, and walking out to see the mist rolling off the water, a reflection of pink light from the sunrise peeking over what felt like the edges of the earth and then seeing that deer drinking at the edge of the water. And Lena couldn’t help the way that her breath caught in her throat. And everything from every direction had crashed into her as she stood transfixed to the spot, that without her realising it the balance of who she was and what she wanted had shifted. 

 

Somewhere in pink light and soft blue eyes as bright as the sky.

 

And now Lena had spent the past month throwing herself into her job, carving away her nights for Kara and leaving her days for what she had come here to do. But even though she had done this a thousand times before, negotiated contracts, charmed and finagled people into getting what she wanted and using cold logic and the incentive of reward that they wouldn’t receive anywhere else, instead of the usual rush of accomplishment she felt when she watched the dotted line of another farmer agreeing to sell to her signed… just wasn’t there. 

 

Instead, she just felt hollow, Kara’s strong arms encircling her every night making her feel worse and all the more hypocritical even though she had been nothing but clear from the start with the other woman about what she was here to do. But the lack of strings, or rather Lena ignoring the strings, didn’t help her divorce herself from the fact that as she knew crept close to the mark of halfway when it came to numbers in the district selling to LuthorCorp, she felt like she was betraying Kara. 

 

And the way the people that she interacted with looked at her, made her feel like she was hung out to dry. And despite Kara’s assurances that exactly zero people would know about the nature of their weird enemies with benefits that involved friendship and sex, Lena couldn’t help but feel like there were even more eyes on her in this town then she was used to. 

 

Only now confirmed by the devastated Mr Martin’s words. Mr Martin, whose family had lived in the area almost as long as Kara’s had. 

 

Mr Martin that she had leveraged his bank into upping the interest rate on his loan to give him no other choice than to sell to her.

 

Today she felt like a snake.

 

Lena’s fingers clenched briefly, but she quashed the feeling and allows her expression to shift into neutral as she turned to look at the man once more. Looking at his hunched shoulders and defeated air as he continued to look at her with sad eyes.

 

And Lena let some of her tension slip at his words, seeing that he hadn’t meant them as a barb or as an accusation. 

 

“Don’t tell her I signed over,” he all but pleaded, his eyes full of tears. “Not yet… she’s trying so hard to help us all… I reckon this’d break her heart more’n me and my family.”

 

Lena felt a sharp lance in the chest at his words, the truth ringing out. 

 

It was true that as hard as Lena was working on trying and buying people out of their land, Kara was working equally in opposition to her. Holding meetings and brainstorming well into the night. Working for free and hard whenever she could for anyone that needed it, be it fixing fences, branding cattle, patching up machinery, all to get them by for at least one more week — trying to keep the hope alive in a community that was both clinging to life by its fingernails and begging to die. 

 

And they never talked about it, or instead, they tried not to. But something was harrowing and jarring when every night after Lena had convinced one more family to sell; she would wait at her kitchen table like a concerned housewife. Stewing and invested far more nervously in whether Kara’s truck would roar down the road, only to hear her heavy boots entering the main house and all the lights turn off. 

 

The message of that louder then anything she could directly say to Lena, or the deep disappointment in her eye and Lena would wonder if today was the day that Kara finally realised that hating Lena was a far better use of her time then the dangerous line they were walking together. 

 

But then there were the nights when the screen door of the cottage would fly open, and Kara would walk in covered in dust and exhausted, giving her that look that screamed so many things. And Lena knew that even though they existed in their strange no man’s land truce within the four walls of her bedroom, it didn’t mean that things didn’t bleed over. 

 

And even though she knew it wasn’t healthy, neither of them talked about it. Instead, Kara would push her against the wall and take her hard and roughly, making Lena come undone before she even had a chance to think, her moans swallowed by Kara’s insistent mouth. The only thing stopping her from collapsing was Kara’s strong and steady arms as she carried her to bed and made her whole body strain with pleasure. 

 

And it was only after Kara had fallen asleep next to her, her face still streaked with dirt she had collected that day working that Lena wondered once more if everything would be easier if Kara didn’t just hate her. Because it was becoming so tiring and terrifying that Lena no longer deny at least to herself, she had real feelings involved. It wasn’t just an attraction and a crush, as it had been in the beginning. It was an intimacy that she and Kara had developed in the last months; it was wanting to spend the night with Kara as often as she could.

 

It was how she couldn’t get enough of spending time with Kara, no matter what they were doing. It was how Kara could set her entire body on fire with just a few words, with only a look, but then the way Lena’s stomach swooped and trembled when Kara would laugh at one of her jokes or do one of her unthinkingly sweet gestures. Suggestions and whispers of poetry and stories of her childhood. And the way that she listened and remembered everything that Lena had ever told her.

 

The way she cared so deeply about everything, in a way that Veronica never had. And the way that comparing her ex-wife to Kara felt like comparing an ant to a dragon. The idea that Lena’s heart would ache with longing and fear at the comfortable familiarity that had formed between them. And even though they still existed in an uneasy wariness where everything else that wasn’t them was concerned, Lena couldn’t help but tremble at the way she wanted Kara all the time. 

 

She felt closer to Kara then she could remember feeling for anyone else in her life, save Lex. But there with every inch and understanding, they gained of each other, more and more barriers multiplied between them. And she still couldn’t even comprehend the deep, hollow sadness that she felt in her heart knowing that it would all end sooner than she could think. And all that would be left was the dust of this place, memories of hot mouths and the sad reality that Lena devoured and destroyed everything that she came into contact with.

 

And then she wouldn’t have to wonder if Kara hated her. 

 

Lena nodded to the man and left as fast as she could. Only once she back in her car did she allow herself to exhale a long, shuddering breath, resting her forehead against the steering wheel and wondering for the hundredth time what the hell she was doing. 

 

* * *

 

Of all the things that she shouldn’t be doing, because like all things these days it was unfair to Kara, she found herself driving to Cat Grant’s farm because she knew that Kara was taking the afternoon to train. The rodeo had managed to creep up on them, only a week away now, and Lena knew that the main event that Kara was competing in was stressing her out. Not that Lena had a clue how it worked, and if she was honest, she had little desire too. Fearing that knowing would probably make her hyperventilate with fear the same way she had been Sam had casually mentioned that it was perhaps the most injury-prone sport to compete in.

 

And no matter how much she insisted, Kara refused to part from her hat and wear a helmet.

 

She should be leaving Kara alone to concentrate, but the conversation with Mr Martin had disturbed her. Leaving her with a need for comfort, to at least see Kara and bask in the glow that the other woman practically radiated like the sun.

 

Lena pulled up, stepping out into the sun and letting out an annoyed grunt when it hit her. 

 

No matter how long she had already been here, she would never get used to the heat.

 

Pausing for a moment after she had shut the car door, having learnt that the best way to now which direction to walk in to find people out here was by listening. As if in response to her thought, a loud bang sounded out from behind the house, followed by a series of voices steadying something.

 

Lena sighed, wondering what she had walked into again, and made her way around. Pausing once she turned the corner, taking in the sight of Kara, lowering herself onto the back of a bull, locked in a tight pen, and her heart started to beat wildly in her chest. 

 

Two farmhands that worked for Cat and Lena had never learned the names of given Cat’s propensity to call them ‘you’, stood on the sides of a large penned yard, the small pen that Kara and the bull where it opened up into. Another man was helping Kara, and Lena spotted Cat too, standing a slight distance away and eyeing Kara with a discerning eye, but otherwise not speaking.

 

Lena frowned, not wanting to interrupt, and her eyes turned to spot Carter, and Ruby seated next to each other on the back porch, watching the proceedings eagerly. 

 

Ruby had been coming with Kara a lot these days, the blonde farmer making an effort to include her in everything she did over the weekends and as such, the girl had been spending a considerable amount of time at the Grant Ranch. Something which had Carter blushing to the roots of his hair when she had first arrived, delighted to spend time with his old friend one more. Watching them now, Carter shooting Ruby adoring looks as if he was afraid she didn’t exist, Lena could see the boy didn’t have a clue that Ruby was sitting far closer to him then she probably would typically have. And Lena had the sneaking suspicion that the moody girl liked the boy a lot more then she would ever admit, given the way she almost jumped away from him when Lena walked up.

 

“Hi, you two,” she smiled, arching an eyebrow at Ruby and biting her lips when the girl flushed slightly. 

 

Carter missed it though, smiling up at Lena happily and about to reply before he hurriedly shooed her to the side and out of his eyeline. Lena picked up on the excitement, turning to look at Kara again just in time for the gate holding the bull to erupt and the animal to exploded out of the pen. 

 

Lena felt the blood flow from her head, the terrifying sight of Kara on the back of a crazed animal's back, looking very much like a rag doll, startling her. But it was barely three seconds before Kara was thrown off, flying through the air and hitting the dirt with a hard thud. The two men waiting in the yard running towards the bull and diverting its attention to give Kara enough time to jump up and run towards the fence, clambering up before the beast could turn on her. Once she was over the side, Lena was finally able to suck in a shuddering breath. 

 

_That_ was what Kara was doing every day? 

 

Cat didn’t seem as nervous as she felt though, stalking towards Kara who was looking despondent.

 

“I’ll be back,” Lena muttered to the teenagers, before following behind Cat until she was hovering behind her and could overhear her conversation to the dust splattered Kara, who was rubbing her side with a wince.

 

“Well, that was dismal.”

 

Kara flinched at Cat’s dry tone, but Lena wondered what involved being thrown off a bull that _wasn’t_ dismal.

 

“I know,” Kara answered sadly.

 

Cat let out a heavy sigh.

 

“Do you know where you went wrong?” She said in a kinder tone, though not by much.

 

Kara looked over at the bull, stand-in uneasy at the edge of the yard and eyeing her with disapproval.

 

“Everywhere.”

 

“You’re going to have your head busted open if you pull that this weekend,” Cat warned in reply. “Jesus, Kara, you did better than this last week! Where’s your head at? You need to focus on.”

 

Kara frowned, but her eyes became sad.

 

“I know, Cat. It’s just… a bad run.”

 

Cat didn’t look like she believed a word of the weak explanation, and she poked Kara harshly in the chest.

 

“Well, you better screw your head back on; otherwise you can train on the barrel instead,” she firmed. “I’m not going to let you kill yourself because you’re not paying attention.”

 

And on that, without bothering even to acknowledge Lena, she turned at walked away. Only a few steps before she was yelling at her farmhands. Kara and Lena watched her for a few seconds before their eyes turned back to meet each other.

 

“You ok?” Lena asked, kindly.

 

Kara grimaced and shrugged.

 

“Yeah…”

 

Lena hesitated, before moving to lighten the mood, dramatically wrinkling her nose.

 

"You stink.”

 

Unlike other times, when Kara would laugh at her insult and then throw her over her shoulder, Kara scowled in her direction.

 

"Sorry, Ms Dior,” she snapped. “We can't all come away from working in cow shit smelling like roses.”

 

Lena arched an eyebrow.

 

"You're snappy.”

 

Kara scowled at her now.

 

"You might be too if you landed flat on your arse after only three seconds... Doesn't help that I'm probably going to be a walking fucking bruise before Saturday comes round anyway.”

 

Lena rankled at the exaggerated self-pity in Kara’s voice, and couldn’t help but feel she was whining for the sake of it and lashing out a Lena because she was an easy target.

 

"You're the idiot that wants to risk your life getting on the back of one of those things,” Lena bit back, her temper growing.

 

Kara snorted, a nasty smirk growing.

 

"It's a bull, not an alien, Lena.”

 

It was said in a mocking tone, something that Lena heard far too often from people in country towns that assumed she was a total idiot when it came to any problems they faced.

 

"It might as well be,” she spat out, waving her hand over Kara’s hunched form. “It’s not exactly like you'd ever go to a doctor if you got hurt. And if you don’t want me here, say it.”

 

Before she could move, Kara winced and grabbed at her hand, holding her still.

 

"No reason to go to a doctor unless a limb's detached,” she replied in a kinder, apologetic, voice. “At least that's what I was taught.”

 

Even though she was still annoyed, Lena buried it down in favour of a sigh.

 

"Another nugget of wisdom of country life?”

 

Kara smiled at her words, the sweetness of it replacing the sour.

 

"Nah, that's all Zorel,” she replied with a wink. “We're descended from tough stock. That and we don't have health insurance.”

 

Lena blinked at that, aghast.

 

"You don't have health insurance?”

 

Kara eyed her with disbelief.

 

"Lena, in case it escaped your notice we're not exactly rolling in anything other then shit here.”

 

Lena felt embarrassed now, even though Kara’s attention became distracted by her thoughts.

 

“No way I can afford that,” she muttered. “I barely scrape the money for insurance on the truck, and that's only because the Lord's are half a hair away from running me off the road."

 

Cat walked back to them, picking up on the end of Kara’s words.

 

“Yes,” she replied dryly instead of Lena. “They have rather always had an unfortunate case of arrogance. And it's not well earned in the least.”

 

Kara scowled.

 

"I can't believe that fucker is going to enter this year,” she muttered.

 

Ruby, who popped up out of nowhere with Carter, gave her godmother a reassuring pat on the elbow.

 

"Don't let him get under your skin, Kara.”

 

Lena looked around the small group, confused.

 

"What's happening?” She asked.

 

Kara looked at her with another grimace.

 

"Maxwell Lord Jr has decided to try his hand at bull riding,” she explained, the rest of the group scowling in turn at her words. “The only reason why he's doing it is that he knows I am. The fu... guy, hasn't tried to go up against me since we were in school. He figures he might actually have a shot... or maybe it's because I can't be anywhere near him because of that court order.”

 

Lena frowned, unsure of what it all meant or why she felt a sudden urge to defend Kara’s honour. She was spared from having to reply by Cat, who let out a hiss to rival her namesake.

 

"No doubt the little weasel will do his very best to hang around the pens so that you won't even be able to get a practice run in,” she spat. “Not that it would help the way you've been performing.”

 

Kara scoffed, and Carter gave his mother an annoyed look, before quickly looking away before she turned her attention toward him too.

 

"Thanks for the sympathy, Ms Grant,” Kara drawled sarcastically.

 

Cat was unmoved.

 

"Do you want to money or not, Keira?” She questioned, shaking her head in disappointment. “You've got no confidence in yourself.”

 

Kara frowned, before shrugging and crossing her arms defensively.

 

"I'm a lot older then I used to be.”

 

Cat rolled her eyes.

 

"And you're stronger, smarter and tougher,” she replied. “Don't use your age as an excuse. Never stopped anyone else if they wanted something.”

 

Kara swallowed hard at the seriousness of Cat’s tone, standing a little straighter under her eyes.

 

"Yes, ma’am."

 

Cat nodded, before eyeing Ruby and Carter sharply until they got the hint to vanish back to the house.

 

"You get five more minutes break while I get witless one and two to set up your next ride.”

 

Cat looked over at the two men in the yard. Still, one inspecting the others shoe.

 

"Make that ten,” she snapped, before walking away and letting out a shout.

 

“I DON'T KNOW WHY I EVEN BOTHER TO PAY YOU LOT!”

 

The two men scrambled, and Lena smiled. Picturing Cat then as a masterful and feared CEO, her employees parting in her wake as she stepped out of an elevator that was no doubt private.

 

"She'd be unstoppable in the city.”

 

Kara shrugged at her words.

 

"She's one of a kind, for sure.”

 

Kara didn’t sound overly enthusiastic, making Lena’s forehead pinch slightly. 

 

"I was wondering,” Lena asked suddenly. “What are you doing tonight?”

 

Kara arched an eyebrow.

 

"You going to invite me to the movies or something?”

 

Lena gave her a meaningful look.

 

"I was trying to be subtle about.... you know.”

 

Instead of smiling, or reacting positively, Kara grimaced.

 

"I got it, Lena,” she replied distractedly, suddenly looking in any direction than in Lena’s. “And while I am incredibly flattered that you find me so irresistible that you're braving the grimy farmer to ask... that or you're desperate-"

 

"Fuck off."

 

"-I am busy tonight.”

 

Lena frowned, confused.

 

"Are you invited to Sam’s?" She questioned, wondering why she hadn't been as well and then felt instantly guilty for the thought.

 

Kara shook her head.

 

"Well, I have to drop Ruby off, but no…"

 

Her voice staggered, and Lena’s frown deepened.

 

"Are you working a shift at the Bar?”

 

Kara finally looked at her, extremely uncomfortable and shuffling on her feet.

 

"I'm holding a meeting. About the sale.”

 

The answer floored Lena slightly, but she supposed she shouldn’t be surprised and she really shouldn’t feel as hurt as she did.

 

“Resistance to me?” Lena coldly replied.

 

Kara firmed up, standing her ground.

 

“Yes.”

 

Lena’s jaw twitched, and she took a half step back.

 

“Don’t you think that’s a little hypocritical?” She spat. “You holding the meeting when you're sleeping with me?”

 

Kara looked furious at her words.

 

"I could ask you the same, or I could insult you just as easily and say it was strategic.”

 

Lena felt hit, deflating where she stood.

 

"Kara-"

 

"This is what I'm doing, Lena,” Kara raised a hand. “I have a commitment to these people. I have a commitment to myself. I'm not going to shift the needle. In all fairness, you don't look ready to either." 

 

And Lena didn’t. She didn’t want to talk about, and just wanted to exist in that bubble that kept them so safe and together, apart from the other world that always threatened to invade and disrupt.

 

Reality.

 

“I thought you didn’t want to talk about it either,” she replied, her voice softer.

 

Kara didn’t seem affected by her words.

 

“Fine. We don't have to,” she replied bitterly. "We can keep ignoring the elephant in the room. I can do that. For all your talk about hurting me, though, I got to wonder if it's not the opposite.”

 

Lena shook her head, throwing up defensive walls.

 

"I'm fine, Kara. I know what I'm doing.”

 

It was flat, and Lena willed it int truth. But Kara still watched her with disbelief in her eyes.

 

"Well, good,” she muttered. “As long as we're both on the same page there."

 

"Yeah, good,” Lena replied.

 

There was a long silence then as if even the air was holding its breath before Kara shuffled again and waved to the yards.

 

"Look... I've got to get back to this..”

 

Lena nodded, feeling even more disturbed than when she had arrived.

 

"Yeah, I understand."

 

* * *

 

Lena stirred from her sleep at the sound of a sharp bang, blinking blearily and lifting her head slightly. Oscar’s weight on the mattress shifted from where he was sleeping at the end, the dog picking up his head and turning towards the bedroom door with pricked ears. Lena’s mind cleared, and she sat up straight when another crash now emanated from the hallway. Oscar stood to his feet, ears pricking, and he let out a low growl. 

 

Lena scrambled too, her heart almost leaping out of her chest when her bedroom door swung open and a dark silhouette stood in the archway. The only thing that stopped her from throwing the bedside lamp at the figure was Oscar’s sudden attitude change, his hackles lowering and his tail shifting into a slow wag. Lena let out a breath and her eyes adjusted, surprised to make out Kara’s shadowed features.

 

After there almost not argument/discussion of feelings earlier, Lena had resigned herself to a night of tossing and turning, convinced that Kara would have no interest in seeing her. Not one where Kara would crash through the door.

 

“Kara?” She questioned quietly, confused. “What are you-“

 

The woman wobbled slightly, cutting her off with a wave of her hand and stumbled further into the room. Lena felt a slight sinking in her heart once she noticed the glassy eyes and flushed cheeks. 

 

"Is it... ok if I stay here tonight?” Kara asked, the words slurring as she almost tripped over her feet.

 

Lena let out a sigh, before nodding slightly.

 

"Of course it is, Kara,” she answered.

 

Kara’s smiled sloppily, shrugging off her clothes and somehow managing to get her head wrapped in her flannel shirt. Lena shifted in alarm, moving to stand up when Kara fell over onto her side with a thump and let out a cackle of laughter.

 

“Kara!” Lena exclaimed, reaching down and hovering. “Are you ok?”

 

Kara muffledly laughed, finally managing to take off the shirt and grin weakly up at Lena, waving her away. 

 

"I'm fine…” Kara muttered, untying her boots clumsily and throwing them in opposite directions of the room. “I'm all fine... Never been better.”

 

Lena arched an eyebrow but sat back down on the bed, not offering to help as Kara stood to her feet and took off the rest of her clothes. Shooing Lena to the opposite side of the bed before falling onto the mattress beside her and face plant in the pillow. 

 

Lena stared at her bare back for a few quiet seconds, struggling to think of something to say as Oscar rearranged himself on the mattress and rested his head on Kara’s leg protectively and let out a huff. Lena lay down herself, twisting her head to look at Kara, who was staring back at her with enough sadness to make Lena let out another soft breath. 

 

Reaching her hand up, she ran it lightly down Kara’s side.

 

"I take it the meeting didn't go well,” she whispered.

 

Kara’s face twisted slightly, and she shook her head.

 

Lena opened her mouth, a need to console overriding the hypocrisy of comforting Kara over a problem that was fundamentally caused by her to start with. But before she could say anything, Kara’s finger clumsily pressed against her lips. 

 

"Shhhh... I can't talk about that with you…” Kara husked out. “You're the _enemy_ , remember? We should hate each other…”

 

The feeling that Lena had feared was on the edges of Kara’s mind said allowed, sent her heart into override and she swallowed. About to reply, it caught in her throat when Kara’s eyes filled with tears, and she felt her whole body groan.

 

“Why don't we hate each other?” Kara whispered, sorrow in her voice.

 

Lena felt her whole body melt, and she reached to press and gentle hand to Kara’s back.

 

"Oh, Kara.”

 

The other woman shrugged her off, her eye burning into Lena’s face now. 

 

"Don't pity me... and don't say you aren’t,” she muttered.

 

Lena let out a heavy breath.

 

"You shouldn't... Kara, how much did you have to drink?” She questioned as gently as she could.

 

Kara shrugged against the bed, but her eye darted away from Lena’s face.

 

"Just a few... found... whisky, you know?”

 

Lena grew concerned at the slurred words.

 

"Tell me you didn't drive.”

 

Thankfully, Kara shook her head.

 

"Nah... Maggie dropped me off... Should have been Alex, but we're still not talking. Can't have her treating me like an idiot... can't have her knowing that I am…"

 

Lena didn’t know that, and wondered is the reason that they weren’t talking had something to do with her and felt guilty once more.

 

"You're not an idiot, Kara,” she whispered. “You're a good person. You're... as a master of self-destruction, I think you're taking steps down a path that you're not going to enjoy the outcome of.”

 

Kara let out a shaky breath.

 

"I'm just trying to survive.”

 

It was desperate and sad.

 

Lena lay down, so she was half pressed against Kara’s side.

 

"Maybe try living for a change too, ok?”

 

Kara watched her face, a strong hand reaching up to trace Lena’s side.

 

"Do you want me to go?”

 

Lena shook her head.

 

"No, Kara. Go to sleep."

 

* * *

 

Lena strolled across the yard her thoughts troubled and kicking up dust as went. Steadily throughout knowing Kara, Lena had observed the way she treated and handled the stress in her life. Most of the time, it was through a constant sense of optimism, even against the mounting wave of issues she faced. 

 

Lena had often thought that there couldn’t be another person on the planet that worked as many hours as she did, but that had been before she had spent over a month living with Kara. Up before dawn nearly every day, and already working on fixing whatever was broken around the farm, digging up pipes and repairing them all by hand, slowly and steadily working to restore the barn that had long since fallen into disrepair or building a long fence that stretched the span of the entire farm. Then she was off once more, working for Cat or any other farmer who would pay her as a ranch hand. Her late afternoons were then devoted to working for free in the same capacity for anyone that needed it in the area, then her nights working shifts she could pick up at The Bar, serving the men she had worked for the entire day. 

 

Falling in next to Lena after a long day wasn’t uncommon, but neither was the alcohol on her breath.

 

Lena had spent enough of her life in the presence of people who leaned on alcohol to ease the things they were battling against, but having seen herself falling down the same pathway of dependance that her father and brother engaged with Lena had long since tempered her instincts in favour of indulging in the high that came from excelling in her work. But unlike Kara, she had the benefit of her accomplishments lasting, instead of fighting a losing battle against old farmers, debt, drought and the land itself. Taking one step forward, only to be pushed back two every day. 

 

And Lena would have to be deaf not to hear the loud shouts that echoed from the main house at least three times a week. Kara and her father, who hardly ever left the house, screaming at each other about everything from money to past and present sins, and more often than not lead to Kara storming out and driving off in a roar. Only to return hours later, either quietly entering her own house or stumbling up the steps of the cottage and into Lena’s bed and always standing at the door, always asking for permission.

 

As if Lena would have the heart to turn her away.

 

Those were the nights when Kara’s hands didn’t slip under her shirt or press her down into the mattress with soft pressure and kisses. She just lay still and quiet, until Lena curled against her back, taking in her earthy scent and held her as close as she could.

 

And they never talked about it the next day. 

 

But last night had been enough to tip the scales, Lena’s balancing act to spin as many plates as she could crashing down when she woke up to find Kara pulling on her boots before the morning light even hit the window.

 

“Kara… don’t go,” she had whispered hoarsely, unable to stop the worry in her voice.

 

She could see Kara’s back twist and feel her weight shift on the mattress, looking over her shoulder and back at Lena. She could make out the features of her face in the dark. 

 

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” she replied softly, and Lena couldn’t help but hear the mournful note in her voice.

 

Lena hesitated before she moved so she was sitting and wrapped her hands around Kara’s waist, the sheets shifting over her legs when she moved the other woman’s hair so she could press a kiss to the back of her neck. 

 

“Kara,” the whisper bounced off her skin and through the quiet room. “You know you can talk to me.”

 

Kara softened in her embrace briefly, before pulling away and standing to her feet. Looking down at Lena in the dark, she shook her head in reply.

 

“Not about this.” Firm but gentle.

 

Lena watched as Kara moved to pick up her shirt, buttoning it before she put her hat on. Lena felt the words, the mountain of things she wanted to say, sit in her chest like lead weight somehow trying to reconcile this strange and alien version of herself she became in moments like this with Kara. When everything that made them it so impossible for them even to speak to each other, crashed in around them despite the broken walls, they both used to block it out. 

 

“Kara,” Lena called out finally before the other woman could move to leave. “I know that, But there are other things.”

 

She reached out to touch Kara’s sun tanned wrist, tracing the skin lightly and trying to coax Kara into holding her hand.

 

“You can talk to me about your father,” Lena whispered, honesty filling the words. “You can talk to me about it.”

 

Her eyes flickered up to Kara’s, and for a brief moment, she thought the other woman might sigh, let the tension drop from her shoulders and let her in. But Lena should’ve known better, for if there was any topic that made Kara defensive, it was anybody mentioning her father.

 

Pulling her wrist away with a jerk, Kara frowned and looked away from Lena’s gaze.

 

“I’m sorry that you have to hear it,” she muttered, half warningly and half embarrassed.

 

Lena pinched the bridge of her nose, growing more and more irritated for the way she had to tread on eggshells.

 

“Kara-“

 

The other woman cut her off, brushing the words away as she rambled into her well-practised defensiveness.

 

“But it’s just… the way he is when he drinks,” she continued to mutter. “Which is obviously… always.”

 

Lena’s flash of annoyance grew into a flame, and she sat up, letting her feet hit the cold floor with a thud and gave Kara a pointed look.

 

“I’m not worried about _his_ drinking, Kara.”

 

Which was all entirely accurate, considering she had absolutely nothing invested in the man that had probably said a total of ten words to her after the day she had arrived here. As far as Lena could glean, the man carried himself like he had the weight of tormented demons on his shoulders. With a heavy heart and deep lines prematurely etched around his mouth, greying hair and a slightly yellow tinge to his skin which all told Lena without words that his alcoholism was advanced with no chance of halting in sight. Truthfully, it suited Lena that they had never spoken properly, especially without Kara there as a buffer. Even though whenever they had spoken, the older man had been nothing but the epitome of politeness, Lena couldn’t block out those arguments that echoed out through the paddocks.

 

No, Lena was far more concerned for her…. for whatever Kara was to her. Because despite all her stupid self, she was undeniably invested in the woman. 

 

But Kara didn’t take kindly to her words, her eyes narrowing and her shoulders stiffening in a way that reminded Lena all too much of Oscar’s reaction to a possible intruder the night before.

 

“What does _that_ mean?” The hiss came out through Kara’s clenched teeth.

 

Lena bit her tongue in favour of giving Kara a long, hard, look.

 

“You know perfectly well what I’m talking about.”

 

The not yet said thing hung in the air, and if Lena had any sense, she would have reverted to some semblance of reality and stepped back from the situation. Given that it had absolutely nothing to do with her if Kara decided to drink away her problems.

 

But the very thought of not confronting it made her stomach churn painfully.

 

Kara’s glare was intense enough for Lena’s impeccable sense of control falter, and much to her embarrassment and angry flush filled her cheeks, but she still refused to blink first. 

 

Finally, Kara let out a soft breath and shook her head, as if she was dismissing Lena’s concern with such a simple gesture.  


 

“It’s fine, Lena,” she finally answered quietly.

 

Lena felt her ire melt into sympathy, and she reached out once more, knowing Kara well enough now to know that touch always translated her points better with the other woman. Kara let her take her hand this time, not shying away from the contact.

 

“Take from me,” Lena continued earnestly. “I know that children of alcoholics often tend to-“

 

At the word ‘alcoholic’, Kara’s entire body seemed to seize, and she cut off Lena’s words with a loud bark.

 

“Lena, it’s _fine_.”

 

The entire situation couldn’t be further away from fine, but even though it made her inexplicably sad, Lena dropped her hand back to her side and stopped speaking. Kara seemed to realise the tone of her words, wincing slightly, and guilt filled her eyes. Taking an awkward step back, she hovered at the doorframe. 

 

“I have to go,” she finally said, before turning to walk away. But she barely made it a step, before she turned quickly and faced Lena with the same expression of anger, exhaustion and disappointment that led to complicated feelings in Lena’s heart paired with even more complicated sex.

 

“Did you really convince Mr Martin to sell?”

 

Lena felt her heart drop in her chest, and she swallowed dryly.

 

“Kara…”

 

She wanted to explain, to avoid it. Avoid admitting that she had done her job, which was decidedly something she shouldn’t feel guilty for. But under Kara’s soft blue eyes, she couldn’t find the words anymore. Kara seemed to take her lack of words as a yes, her shoulders dropping and she breached herself against the door with a hard fist as her jaw tightened. 

 

Her eyes darted away from Lena, looking straight down at the floor as if she could no longer bear to look at her. Lena’s breath hitched in her throat, and she braced herself for the fall of the axe that had been dangling above them, for Kara to finally admit that she couldn’t stand to even be near Lena anymore because she found what she was doing so despicable and disgusting.

 

“His son told me last night,” Kara finally said in a clear voice. “I guess that means you’ve bought up nearly half the area now.”

 

And that was it. The cold hard truth when everything was stripped away. That their tale wasn’t some overly romantic, yeehaw, teenage fantasy that Lena could buy into briefly. It was a relationship that was supposed to be ignoring the strings. Strings were loudly labelling the David and Goliath reality of what was going on. 

 

Lena represented a corporate giant, secretly on the verge of internal collapse because of her brother’s embezzlement, with millions of dollars backing her family name. And then there was Kara, with barely two pennies to rub together who was more invested in her cause to protect all the people and their land in this area then Lena had ever been in anything her entire life. 

 

It wasn’t hard to see who was the evil person in this reality.

 

And all Lena could manage at that moment was weak and spineless words.

 

“I thought you didn’t want to talk about it.”

 

Kara’s breath paused, and a shudder passed through her body before she looked back up from the floor and into Lena’s eyes unreadable. There was a long pause, Lena’s heart hammering in her chest as she tried to ready herself for whatever Kara had to say. But the dark moment was broken, by Kara stepping forward slowly, as if she feared she would frighten her. When she finally stood before her, Lena could make out the pained softness in her eyes and held her breath when Kara gently cupped her cheek, bending down to place a long and lingering sweet kiss on her lips.

 

Lena sighed into it, unhappiness filling her when Kara pulled back an inch, leaving their foreheads resting against each other.

 

“God, woman…” She husked, her thumb tracing the sharp angle of Lena’s cheekbone. “If only you didn’t make me feel so much.”

 

Lena shuddered, almost crippling under a swell of self-loathing as she watched tears fill Kara’s eyes. She followed her with her eyes as Kara pulled back, giving her one long look before she straightened and walked away.

 

“Kara…” Hoarse words fell from Lena’s lips, and she tried to clear the lump in her throat when Kara’s head tilted, acknowledging that she had heard her.”

 

Lena clenched at the sheets beneath as she tried to steady her voice.

 

“It’s… it’s not because I don’t care about you,” she insisted painfully. “It’s not personal.”

 

Kara’s head whipped around at that, the emotion in her face almost bowling Lena over.

 

“It’s not personal for _you_ ….” Kara croaked, before looking away once more.

 

“I have to go,” she muttered. “The Martin’s need help to clear out their barn.”

 

The conversation kept replaying in her mind on a loop as she slowly paced back and forth across the yard, not even minding the hot sun that burned down on her neck and would undoubtably leave her with a horrific sunburn.

 

The sound of a creaky screen door opening was the thing that broke through her introspection, and her gaze turned up at the sound, blinking in surprise at the sight of Kara’s father stepping out onto the porch. Noticing her as well, with an equally surprised expression, he awkwardly waved and turned to slink back inside. But Lena, who was still walking on autopilot, felt a sudden stab of blinding pain in her foot. 

 

“Shit!” She cried, tears springing to her eyes as she lifted the afflicted foot and tried to balance herself on one leg. “Fucking hell!”

 

Before she could so much as wobble and fall, a steady arm grasped her shoulder and held her upright.

 

“Easy there,” Kara’s deep voice sounded out. “Don’t move.”

 

Lena nodded, in shock in pain. But she was unable to stop herself from looking down and paled instantly at the sight of a large, rusty nail half stabbed through the flat of her shoe and into her foot. She could already feel the blood pooling inside her shoe, and she felt a wave of sickness in her stomach. 

 

Kara’s father gave the wound a cursory glance, winced himself in sympathy before he slung one of her arms around his shoulders. 

 

“Come on,” he said gently. “Lean on me, and I’ll get you to the house so we can sort it out.”

 

Lena’s head started to buzz with the pain, but she let herself be half carried by the thin, but surprisingly strong, man towards the main house. 

 

“It’s bleeding,” she said redundantly, gritting her teeth as she hopped up the half rotted steps. 

 

The older man nodded, bracing her with one arm while he opened the screen door with a creak and walked them both inside.

 

“That it is, but it’ll be ok,” he answered quickly, his calm tone oddly making her stress recede. “I’ve sorted more of Kara’s war wounds on this place then I can count. I got you.”

 

Lena frowned at the words, wondering at their softness. Leading her to the kitchen, the older man helped her lower herself onto a chair and left her alone as he moved to rummage in the cabinet under the kitchen sink. Lena took the opportunity to look around the room, realising that despite living no more than fifty feet away for well over a month, she had never been inside the main house. It had almost seemed like a forbidden dwelling, akin to Boo Radley’s house from To Kill A Mockingbird, the book she loved so much. Kara’s father being the reclusive hermit. But unlike Scout or Jem, it had never really concerned her what the man did with his time or what the inside of the house that Kara spent less time sleeping in then she did in Lena’s bed. 

 

But now that she was in it, in an already odd situation that drew on the awkwardness of her and Kara’s father never being alone before, Lena couldn’t help her curiosity at observing the home Kara had grown up in. 

 

There was no other way to put it; the place was tired and in a sad state. In stark contrast to the meticulous and detailed work that Kara had put into the cottage to make it fit for guests, her own home was run down — peeling wallpaper and water stains on the ceiling that had to have been there a long time, given the lack of rain. The air smelled of dust, grease and spilt whisky and as Lena’s eyes drifted over the many bottles that littered the countertop, she didn’t have to guess where it had come from.

 

It was clear that Kara had put her heart and soul into other things. 

 

Her thoughts were interrupted when Kara’s father shuffled back in front of her, dropping a first aid kit on the counter alongside a half filled bottle of cheap whisky. 

 

“Here you go,” he said, pushing it towards her. “Take a swig.”

 

Lena grimaced at the bottle, taking in all it’s connotations in this setting, before looking back at the older man who had pulled out another chair in front of her.

 

“No, thank you,” she muttered.

 

The man gave her an amused look, and Lena was startled at how much the gesture reminded her of Kara.

 

“Would you rather bite down on an old belt?” He enquired, the neutrality of his town still containing an edge of amusement.

 

Under the distant impression that the man must be mocking her, Lena deliberately unscrewed the top of the bottle and took a swig, trying not to cough as the harsh liquor hit the back of her throat with a burn.

 

Smiling at her, the older man patted his knee and gestured for her to lift her foot. She did so reluctantly, feeling ridiculously irritated and antagonistic towards a man who had never done anything negative toward her.

 

Watching him with a frown as he turned his focus to her foot, her eyes also drifted down, feeling sick once more as his leg shifted, irritating the nail and making more blood drip out of the wound and onto his leg, staining his pants red.

 

Turning pale, her anger forgotten, she stuttered nervously and clutched the whisky closer. Wondering if she should have another drink.

 

“I should go to the hospital.”

 

He didn’t look up from his regular examination but shook his head in response.

 

“Nearest one is in Argo, and it’s only good for babies and the morgue,” he explained, before looking up and giving her a reassuring smile. “The only two occasions around here to go to the doctor.”

 

She didn’t feel overly reassured, even when he patted her non-injured leg on the knee.

 

“Don’t worry, I was the medic of the family,” he grinned. “I got you sorted.”

 

Lena wondered if optimism and unbridled confidence was a familial trait, even though she was especially surprised to hear it from a man that slammed doors and shouted to Kara that she didn’t love him enough. 

 

Swallowing hard, she looked back down at her foot.

 

“It’s in deep…”

 

The man clucked his tongue at her tone, shaking his head once more.

 

“Nah, it aint too bad,” he reassured, before eyeing her seriously and nodding toward the bottle she was clutching. “But unless you want more of that whisky, pass it back over here so I can steady these old hands.”

 

Giving him an alarmed look, and half ready to chew him out, she instead let out a sharp yell.

 

“FUCK!” She screamed, her fists clenching at the pain. Glaring at the man in front of her, who had yanked the nail out viciously and without any trace of regret on his face. He threw the bloody nail on the table, and Lena eyed it with suspicion, convinced that it was twice as long as it seemed. 

 

“Sorry, darlin’,” the man satisfied. “I had to get it out to get your shoe off.” 

 

Biting at her lower lip as the man eased her shoe off of her foot, throwing it to the floor unceremoniously. She watched as he carefully pressed a clean cloth against it, catching the rest of the blood to stop the bleeding.

 

Still wincing, however gentle the gesture had been, she eyed him suspiciously.

 

“You could have warned me,” she grumbled.

 

The man grinned once more, giving her a strange look as she had just said something amusing.

 

“And spoil the surprise? Not my style,” he replied.

 

She was about to open her mouth to bit back a reply but realised that her snapping was probably what he wanted. Unwilling to engage in any verbal sparring, she instead stewed in silence, taking her time alternatively to study the man who was tending to her injury carefully. 

 

He looked like Kara, even more so then she had noticed from the first time she had met him or from the picture Kara had shown her. His eyes were the same colour, slightly duller but still the same — the angle of his jaw too, as well as his ears. Even their builds were similar, though Kara had defined muscles were her father’s looked like they had faded away with a lack of activity. Though she had been right in her assessment that he had an air of sadness about him, something that Kara was distinctly lacking. 

 

But the man perplexed her too, though she supposed she shouldn’t be surprised about his alternate, seemingly kinder, personality given her father and the monster he had turned into when he was drunk. Though in her father’s case, the violence in his eyes always existed even when he was sober. Though it was never directed at her, Lex instead. And even though she should know better than to sympathy towards the man, she couldn’t help but wonder where the man he had once been, the one that Kara had whispered about late at night, had gone — buried underneath a mountain of pain and self-imposed isolation.

 

Wincing once more when the man removed the cloth, satisfied that he had stopped the bleeding, she turned her head to look away when he gave he an apologetic look and started to clean the wound lightly with an alcoholic wipe. 

 

Trying not to cry once more, she looked around the room once more. Focusing on a far corner of the room where, hilariously, there was a broom propped up. 

 

“What do you think about the old place?” Kara’s father’s voice cut into her thoughts. “Admiring my decorating?”

 

Lena turned back to his gaze, suddenly feeling guilty and wondering why on earth she did.

 

“It’s… uh…”

 

Her words trailed off, but the man didn’t seem offended. Instead, a small, sad, smile grew on his lips.

 

“Yeah,” he replied, reaching out to grab the antibiotic cream. “Well, I’m all but useless when it comes to fixing things these days, and Kara’s got more important things to do.”

 

Lena wasn’t quite sure how she was supposed to respond to that, instead of nodding vaguely and looking back around the room. This time, her eyes were drawn to the single, solitary, photo frame gracing the walls. 

 

A group of people, all were standing in front of a brand new truck that Lena recognised as the same rust bucket Kara drove around in today. There were two men and two women in the photo, as well as a tall boy and a young girl. Lena took a moment before she recognised one of the men as Kara’s father and mother and realised that this must be a family photo. The other couple standing next to them, a tall bearded man and a laughing woman must have been Kara’s uncle and aunt, and the boy the man’s hand rested on must be Kara’s cousin, Clark. 

 

Lena took in his features curiously, struggling to link the wide grinning boy with the man Kara had painted in her stories. Everyone in the photo looked so light, so happy. As if none of them had a single care in the world, and the love between them nearly radiated out of the photo.

 

Lena finally took in Kara’s young face, smiling at the gap toothed grin and the pigtails she was sporting. Her clothes covered in mud as if she had just rolled out of a pig pen as opposed the everyone else in their cleaned and pressed clothes. Something stirred in her chest, something that had been growing steadily, she realised since the first time she and Kara had met. But the feeling was strange and unknown, and Lena quickly shoved it away in fear.

 

Kara’s father let out a heavy sigh, and it was only then that Lena realised he had paused his ministrations on her foot and was also staring at the photo with a dark expression.

 

“That was our family… once,” he whispered blankly, looking pained before he turned back to her foot and began to slowly and gently wrap it with a clean bandage.

 

Lena swallowed the lump in her throat, along with the final lingering feelings, before she choked out a reply. 

 

“They’re… beautiful.”

 

It came out so weakly that the man’s dropping mood seemed to pick up, giving her a sceptical look before a new smile graced his features.

 

“You don’t do smalltalk much, do you?” He questioned, still steadily wrapping but maintaining eye contact the entire time. “That’s ok; I’m pretty rubbish at it too. I don’t talk to a lot of people…. But I’ve been thinking these past few days; we’ve never talked really, you and me.”

 

He tucked the corner of the bandage away, checking that it was snug before he lowered her foot back gently on the floor. 

 

“Odd,” he continued, looking back up at her with a severe expression. “Considering you’re living on my place.”

 

_And I’m sleeping with your daughter, and God knows how you feel about that._

 

The immediate thought of that made Lena’s cheeks flush, and she felt a rush of anger, even though the man’s tone hadn’t been the least accusing.

 

“Seems more like Kara’s then yours at this point,” she bit out in reply, instantly regretting it the second it left her mouth.

 

The man didn’t seem offended though, his head titling as he regarded her even more carefully than before.

 

“You’re defensive of her,” he commented. “That’s interesting. I’d’ve thought that you’d’ve sought out every opportunity to get me to sell to you.”

 

Wiggling his fingers in the air dramatically, his tone turned dry and caustic. 

 

“Grease the wheels, considering my name’s still on the deed.”

 

The last word popped out, hasher and more precise than anything else he had said previously and Lena sat back in her seat, trying to chase away the slight fog the whisky had given her in favour of staring down at the man as equally as hard as he was staring at her.

 

“I wouldn’t do that to her,” she said plainly, but with enough fire in her eyes to impress that it was the truth.

 

And she wouldn’t, though she’d be lying if she said the thought hadn’t occurred to her right at the start of her arrival in Argo when she had first heard about the older Zorel’s propensity towards alcohol and the rundown nature of the farm. Of course, back then, the manipulation had seemed so easy to achieve her goal. But now it made her stomach twist and turn unpleasantly, and the thought of doing it to Kara especially made her want to throw up.

 

But despite her words, the man didn’t look convinced, scratching at the stubble on his cheeks and leaning back in his seat with a creak.

 

“Aren’t you doing it anyway?” He questioned. “You living here, _being_ with her near on every night …and her focus is slipping from what’s important.”

 

Lena narrowed her eyes, the hairs on the back of her neck prickling, wondering if the man was trying to imply that she was taking advantage of her relationship with Kara. As if she was some lesbian witch that had swooped in from the big city and corrupted his hard-working daughter.

 

She may think that about herself, but no one else goddamn could. 

 

“ _You_ , you mean,” she spat out in reply, her lip curling lightly. “Looking after you and the ‘land’ that’s still in your name.”

 

At her words, the man’s hard eyes didn’t even flicker. Instead, he shrugged slightly.

 

“Maybe,” he answered. “Maybe more the fight in her she’s had since she was a little kid, to never see this place sold to anyone. Cause of everything’s she’s put into it.”

 

Lena felt her heart sink slightly, and she couldn’t help but look away.

 

“Seems to me like you being here is weathering that away.”

 

The final words almost clawed at her inner ears, the spectacular part of herself that had appeared in the last month wanting to brood in her guilt because she knew that despite Kara’s assurance that she could look after her own heart, she knew that the man’s words were right.

 

“Kara can make her own choices,” she said blankly. “She’s not stupid.”

 

The man let out a heavy breath.

 

“No,” he said, his words far softer than before. “She isn’t.”

 

Lena risked it, her eyes turning back towards the man who was now staring at her with softness and sympathy. With eyes so similar to Kara’s, it was hard to stop her breath from catching in her throat at the look, and she felt a swell of tears grow behind her eyes. She shook her head slightly, trying to chase them away and cursing internally at the emotional puddle she had turned into all due to this damn town, and one particularly idiotic cowgirl.

 

“But people do silly things when they fall in love,” he continued quietly. “They give parts of themselves away from that they swore they would never leave them.”

 

A crease formed between his eyebrows and the corners of his mouth turned down.

 

“I know that more then most,” he whispered, pain lacing his voice. “You lose yourself to it. It speaks to you, fills you and then it rips it all away just as fast.”

 

Lena tried to imagine the hole that losing someone you had chosen to spend your life with, compounded on top of losing your sibling and sibling in law and then losing everything else that came with it. She tried to imagine if she could have remained stable for the only person she had left, but she honestly wasn’t sure if she would be able to. 

 

But Kara had done it. She did it every day.

 

“Not everything has to end in tragedy,” she answered finally, her voice torn.

 

A tear down his face and he rushed to rub it away, coughing, embarrassed by his display of emotion. 

 

He cleared his throat and sat back slightly before looking at her once more with brighter eyes. 

 

“I don’t know you, Ms Luthor,” he answered. “But it seems to me that you and I are the types to have everything end that way.”

 

Lena couldn’t do anything but stare, unable to voice her words, and she pulled her bandaged foot back lightly across the floor and sat back herself.

 

“What do you want, Mr Zorel?” She said exhaustedly.

 

The man sat back himself, looking equally tired. His eyes drifted back to the photo on the wall, staring at if for a long minute before he turned back to Lena with a sad smile.

 

“I don’t want my daughter to get hurt,” he sad only, shrugging. “I know she’s gonna. But I also know there’s no way I’m going to be able to tell her anything on it. We’ll get into it again.”

 

Lena’s mood dropped, and a scowl grew on her face. The man’s smile turned, knowing. 

 

“And I’m guessing that you wouldn’t take kindly to me telling you what to do either,” he continued, a teasing note injected in his voice that did nothing to plug Lena’s bad mood. “You seem like a smart girl, and for however bittersweet it is and how ever long it’ll go, at least she’ll have something to hold onto… and I reckon you’ve been going easy on the lot of us because you want to drag it out with her.”

 

Lena looked away at his final words, a flush growing on her cheeks because he had called her out on her much slower than usual pace when it came to acquiring assets. And the exact reason for her slow place.

 

Namely, his daughter. 

 

Who she was sleeping with. 

 

When Lena looked back across at him, she was surprised that there wasn’t more accusation in his eyes. Just troubling concern and thoughtfulness. 

 

“False hope might be better than none,” he finished.

 

Lena let the words settle for a few seconds without responding.

 

“You think you’ll win?” She finally questioned.

 

At her words, the man let out a bark of laughter, his tried face transforming into something lighter. And despite the grey in his stubble and hair, he looked ten years younger.

 

Lena’s forehead creased again, wondering what exactly it was that she kept saying that he found so funny. 

 

“I’m not fighting, Ms Luthor,” he reassured with another laugh, waving his hand vaguely. “That’s all, my daughter. She’s got a fire deep within in her that I never had.”

 

His humour lifted, leaving behind sadness once more.

 

“My wife did, and my brother… But not me.”

 

Lena hesitated, half her instincts telling her to run as far away as she could and the other to say something bordering on appropriate. She had never been very good at talking to parents of women she was seeing. Half the time they thought she wasn’t good enough for their daughter given her shady family name, and the other half were intimidated by it. And considering the unique relationship Kara and she had, interacting with her father was always going to be strange without the bonus of everything else. Both Kara and her father seemed to wear their hearts on their sleeves, alongside their emotional wounds, and Lena could see easily why the situation was so complicated. 

 

The problem was, even despite all the things that made the man grate on her mostly around how he behaved with Kara, she couldn’t help but like him.

 

He was intelligent and far more observant then Kara had led her to believe. And there was enough concern in his voice for Lena to know that he did care about his daughter. 

 

But who was she to cast judgment anyway? She shouldn’t even be involved.

 

The man cleared his throat and stood to his feet. He was holding out his hand for her to take. 

 

“Anyway, there you go,” he murmured. "All solved. It’s gonna be a bit sore to walk on though. You gonna be ok getting back?”

 

Lena nodded, before taking the rough hand in her own before she even had to time to think of why she did it. As if giving this man she didn’t know comfort was something she wanted to do, or if in some way she only wished to have another connection to Kara. Another way to understand her in this gigantic she had created between them that could only end in disaster, but she was far too selfish to stop. And then there was this man, who she shouldn’t care for at all because she shouldn’t care about Kara, and because she did care about Kara she should hate anyway the same was that she despised the authentic version of her father that had treated Lex so horribly. But looking at him, watching the ways he had treated her foot with a gentleness she couldn’t help but care for him too.

 

And Lena wondered what had changed about her so much since she had come to this barren, dry and waistless land. As if the lack of rain had the opposite effect in her heart and made it grow and soften in size. A small, fearful and uncomfortable part of herself would sometimes wake in the middle of the night, wrapped in Kara’s arms or Kara wrapped in hers, and wonder at the effect Kara was having on her to slowly erode at the edges of her resolve and actually make her see the potential of a life so far removed from the way she had grown up and yet similar enough to make it feel like….

 

She couldn’t even think it.

 

But then there was this man, his hand rough just like his daughters but gentle as well like hers, whom in the briefest periods she had seen a full spectrum of human emotion and Lena could completely understand why Kara, despite everything, couldn’t part from him. And though that could never excuse everything he had burdened her with or the part of Kara’s heart that he had stolen greedily for himself, Lena understood it. It wasn’t just because he was her father, it was because he was the last connection to her family, Clark notwithstanding, and the history of this place that she loved so much. And maybe it was because she feared, that if she did lose him, she would lose the part of her identity that had been built on what all that meant to her. 

 

The spontaneity of her gesture flickered surprise in the man’s eyes, but he didn’t pull away. Instead, he tightened his fingers minutely to give her hand a gentle squeeze, and it was as if an understanding had passed between the both of them that could never be adequately worded aloud.

 

“You’ve got steady hands,” was all Lena could manage, still watching his face unblinkingly.

 

The reactions that Lena couldn’t understand on continued, the man cracking a grin and cocking his eyebrow in a way that made Lena once again, achingly, of Kara.

 

“For an alcoholic, right?”

 

And his voice almost came out teasing, but she would have to be idiotic not to hear the defensive vein in his voice.

 

“Kara told me you didn’t think you were,” she answered blithely, not caring if this topic hurt his feelings.

 

He would be feeling particularly adventurous if he tried throwing plates around her, after all. 

 

But still, he didn’t let go of her hand and neither did he stop smiling.

 

“I didn’t want you to think I was lying about anything I told ya.” Shrugging in reply.

 

Lena could read what he wasn’t saying then, what he was trying to impress on her.

 

_I’m not lying to you. I’m not lying to you about how much I care about my daughter._

 

But as much as she found herself liking the man, or at least the man he sometimes was, putting aside the stupidity of overly investing in something that could never be real with Kara, Lena refused to put sympathy for him above a woman that she cared for very deeply and had been nothing but honourable with her from the day they had first met. 

 

No matter the fact that Lena made no promises to behave the same towards her.

 

And it wasn’t.

 

And there was that bile again, growing in her stomach.

 

“I think you love your daughter, Mr Zorel,” Lena answered after a long, meaningfully, drawn out pause. “I do. But I’ve been around addicts for most of my life, and I know that Kara isn’t just trapped here because of this farm, but because no matter how you use her as a crutch she’ll always want to look after you.”

 

And that, Lena thought, was probably the most honest she had been with anyone barring her brother in a very long time.

 

“She’s a good person, and I don’t think she deserves either of us.”

 

The man took in her words with a deepened crease between his eyebrows but didn’t reply to them directly. Instead, he left the same amount of pause that she did before she had spoken and pulled back his hand. Rising to his feet, he gave her another small smile and gestured for her to remain seated. 

 

“Hang on a second.”

 

He walked away after that, around a corner and down a corridor. Lena listened to him open a door, rustle for something before he shuffled back. Rounding the corner with a white Stetson in his hands that he stared down at with a tender expression on his face.

 

Lena didn’t speak, a strange feeling growing in the air that something rather emotional was about to occur. And after a full minute of standing in front of her pondering the hat in his hand, Kara’s father finally filled the silence for them both.

 

“I heard you’ll be heading to the rodeo in Kandor next week,” he sounded. “You’re the big sponsor."

 

Lex signing her up for that particular perk didn’t do anything to ease her troubled thoughts. As if dishing out prize money for the best chicken at the show made LuthorCorp seem like a benevolent overlord instead of the greedy one that Lena knew most of the population thought.

 

Lena frowned instead of replying, but bob that time the man had looked up and seen it. Taking it for a reply.

 

"I gotta say, Ms Luthor,” he grinned once more, giving her a look that bordered on respect. “You got a spine.”

 

Oddly, Lena felt slightly touched by the comment. Even though she was used to them, Lena knew that this was not a man that dished them out unless he truely believed them.

 

The man looked back down at the hat once more, sadness on his face, before he looked up again.

 

“I figure if you're gonna dive into the rat's nest, you're gonna need to look the part.”

 

He held out the hat; it shook slightly in the air as his hand trembled with it.

 

“This was my wife’s.”

 

And at that, Lena's heart suddenly stopped in her chest. Staring at the hat with new meaning.

 

“The... place that Kara took you too a month ago was…” His words stuttered as if he couldn’t bear to think of it. 

 

The man swallowed before continuing.

 

“I gave this to her, the day after we got back,” he explained. “Engagement present… we weren't loaded, but she wore it a long time.”

 

Maybe, before she had arrived in Argo, she might think that was the strangest engagement present she had ever heard of. But now, she understood that it probably meant more than the most beautiful diamond ring.

 

“Kara didn't want it…”

 

Lena didn’t have to wonder why.

 

“I think my wife would've liked you,” the man continued. “She always was a better parent, a better person; then I could ever hope to be. So I think you should have it.”

 

The magnitude of it all hit her when he stopped. Staring at the hat in his hands, she felt fear clutch at her heart. The thing that had been eating at her, growing in her from the first instant she had seen Kara’s face, made her want to cry now. Because this gesture on Kara’s fathers part, really meant something. And though she doubted she would ever really respect the man, for him to offer this after talking to her for all of ten minutes, meant double of that same something in her heart. Lena couldn’t help but feel sick then, knowing just how unworthy she was to receive it. 

 

Not just as something that had been gifted with love to a woman that Kara’s father had loved so deeply, that when she died, he had descended so far. But as something that genuinely meant, he thought she was good enough for his daughter. As if he felt that, despite all that he had said about hurting her, the unspoken fact that she would rip away everything that Kara’s held dear didn’t matter in the face of what she could give Kara instead. Or maybe he thought as Kara did, that with enough displays of kindness, and empathy, and showing Lena just how much beauty there could be in life. How much potential there was for it, that she would somehow change everything.

 

As if she would let them keep their farm, and the rains would come.

 

But the lie was ash in her mouth.

 

"Mr Zorel-“

 

He cut her off like he had prepared for the words.

 

"Please take it, Ms Luthor,” he insisted. “She needs a little bit of her memory to live on in more than just the people who knew her when she was with us.”

 

Lena looked at the hat and wondered once more. Thinking of her mother, who she could barely remember, and understanding completely what it must feel like to know that the memory of someone who you loved and would have moved heaven and earth for to keep them alive, would one day not even have their name remembered.

 

“Alura was worth so much more than all of us... 'cept for Kara of course,” he said, wetness suddenly in his eyes. “And it’s better you have it then it sits in this place gathering dust along with the rest of us broken things.”

 

_But I’m a broken thing. I’m broken and bitter and so out of place here. And I’m so selfish for making your daughter want to help me._

 

_And for wanting her to._

 

But the thoughts weren’t tangible, even held a candle, to this gesture.

 

So she took it, feeling it between her fingers, before looking up at him once more.

 

"I'm having trouble figuring you out, Mr Zorel,” she admitted. “I think that's a trait your daughter inherited. It's rather infuriating.”

 

His eyes became clear then, and he smiled a Kara smile again. The kind that made her want to get up in the morning.

 

"It something in the water,” he said in a con-spiritual voice and with a wink.

 

Lena laughed suddenly. 

 

"Thank you,” she said honestly. “For this and my foot.”

 

He seemed pleased at her words.

 

"For what it’s worth… even though it doesn’t matter to you anyway,” he continued to smile. "Of any of the boyfriends that Kara had that I’ve met, I think you’ve got the highest calibre.”

 

Lena arched an eyebrow, and the man suddenly flushed, scratching behind his ear awkwardly.

 

“Or girlfriend rather in your case,” he admitted, before frowning in a way that made Lena curious if that was a hang up for him. 

 

“Though I suppose she must have had a few she never told me about,” he finished, thoughtfully enough to banish the idea from her mind. 

 

“You got that air of sophistication that is sorely lacking in this area,” he smiled, teasing once more. “And you make her smile sometimes. It’s more then I do.”

 

Lena added that all onto the pile of things that she didn’t know how to understand. Wondering now, guilty, if she was the first person he had talked to so freely in a while. Not even with his daughter.

 

“It’s absolutely none of my business, and given your talent, for screaming, I doubt what I’m going to say will sit well with you,” she breathed out in reply, stepping over the line she had drawn herself. "But maybe if you tried doing things that made your daughter smile instead of bemoaning the fact that you don’t, you might just have a better relationship with her.”

 

He blinked at her candidness, but once again didn’t get upset. Just smiled knowingly.

 

“I like you, Ms Luthor,” he replied. “You're not a liar. Too many people are liars in this world.”

 

Now she knew that wasn’t true and her smile turned cold.

 

“I am a liar, Mr Zorel,” she warned. “The worst kind.”

 

_And I don’t quite know how I’m doing it… but I’m tricking you into believing in me._

 

The man didn’t seem to care about her frostiness, waving it away with a hand.

 

“Nah, you’re just a kid. You’re still figuring it all out.”

 

If anyone else had said that to her, she would have never spoken to them again. But once again, she found herself feeling strange things for these people and sat rather sheepishly under his words.

 

“I just think you had to grow up to quick,” the man whispered as if understanding her feelings. “Don’t worry, your head and your heart are gonna level out and when they do… You’ll be even more of a force to be reckoned with then you are now.” 

 

And that…. Lena didn’t know how to feel, beyond the sudden desire to sleep.

 

Swallowing it all down, she held out her free hand for him to take.

 

“Can you… can you help me?” She asked, almost childlike now. “To get back to…”

 

He smiled once more, taking it.

 

“Sure, kid.”

 

* * *

 

She found her again, half dozing with a book on her chest. Lena had managed her way back to her room, Kara’s father all but tucking her in and making her feel very much like a child before she shooed him away. She supposed she should be working, but Lena used the excuse of her foot to sleep. In reality, she just needed her mind to shut down. To stop everything that was swirling in it that she was trying to avoid.

 

But Kara found her anyway, walking into her room softly and sitting on the mattress, rousing Lena and letting her blink her eyes awake. Kara stared down at her with soft eyes, so different from this morning, and her hand hovered slightly in the air Lena’s side. As if she was unsure whether she could touch her or not. 

 

Lena chose for her, reaching out to press Kara’s fingers down onto her hip and realising the feeling of Kara digging in ever so slightly, enough to alleviate the anxiety Lena felt in her heart. 

 

“Are you asleep?” Kara asked quietly, her hand moving gently, almost tracing patterns on Lena’s skin.

 

Lena shook her head but otherwise didn’t move.

 

“Not really.”

 

Kara nodded, her eyes tracing Lena’s body and lingering on Lena’s bandaged foot with a frown.

 

“What happened?”

 

Lena let out a sigh, the reminder of the conversation she’d had with Kara’s father troubling her.

 

“Nothing… just… I stepped on a nail.”

 

Kara looked at her then, concern in her eyes.  


 

“Are you ok?”

 

Lena gave her a half smile.

 

“Yeah.”

 

Kara’s fingers dug into her side again slightly, and Lena tried to read Kara’s face through the dark. Trying to understand the game that they were playing once more, and feeling somewhat ill at how good Kara was getting at it. Able to divorce the parts of herself with a person, as if the version of Kara this morning didn’t feel the same way about Lena tonight.

 

“You want to do something?” Kara’s voice breathed out, surprising Lena but not at all unpleasantly. 

 

Still aware of her foot, Lena sat up slightly and pulled at Kara’s work shirt until it was untucked. Thinking how much she had changed once more not to be bothered by taking a dusty, sweaty girl to her head. 

 

“Yes.”

 

The words came out as more of a whine, then she would have liked, but there was something addictive and straightforward about sleeping with Kara. A time when everything that she didn’t want to think about was truly banished from her mind, and they connected in something that they were compatible.

 

Kara halted her movements, grasping at Lena’s hand.

 

“Not that… I mean, yes… that. But later.”

 

Lena sat back, arching an eyebrow in confusion.

 

“Ok…” She drawled. “What do you want to do?”

 

Kara watched her in the dark, Lena making out the small smile that curled at her lips — bending down to brush her lips lightly against Lena’s, making Lena smile and lean into it. But Kara pulled back before she could, and smiled in turn at Lena’s disapproving groan.

 

“Trust me?” Kara whispered with a devilish grin.

 

Lena let out a breath, before nodding.

 

“Always.”

 

Kara blinked, clearly shocked at the sincerity in Lena’s words. Then pleasure filled her face instead. Enough to stop Lena regretting the fact that she genuinely did trust Kara, now one of two people in her life she could say that about.

 

Kara’s gaze flickered down, her forehead creasing slightly. 

 

"I meant to apologise, about last night,” she said gently. “That wasn't fair to come to you like that. I don't want you… I shouldn’t keep doing it.”

 

Lena sat straighter once more, reaching out and letting her fingernail trace across Kara’s cheek, the other woman shuddering slightly at the sensation before she tucked the loose strands of Kara’s hair behind her ear distractedly.

 

"No strings isn't working, is it,” she admitted more than asked. 

 

Because they both had to acknowledge at some point, or instead Lena had to confront it, that the thing between them that neither one was talking about or letting go had become something else. Deepened now by a bond that Lena had never felt before. And Lena knew full well that the only reason that Kara hadn’t said anything before now was that she knew Lena was skittish about it all and had instead chosen to tread on eggshells instead.

 

Kara let out a heavy breath, but Lena could see the relief in her eyes that she had said it first and that expression alone eased the burned in Lena’s heart slightly. 

 

"No, not really,” Kara replied, looking guilty now. “I should've never-“

 

Lena cut her off before she could say another word. Feeling a sudden urge from within her to stem the flood that could lead to everything between them being washed away thoroughly. 

 

“Don’t,” she pressed firmly. “Don’t say you shouldn't have done anything. Not letting me stay here or trying to convince me to change my mind or talking to me. Treating me like a person instead of a faceless assassin. Don't say that you shouldn't have done any of that.”

 

Lena closed the centimetres between them, pressing her forehead against Kara’s.

 

“Don't say it about taking me to the Quarry,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “Don't say it about everything since, or all out nights together.”

 

_Don’t say it was a mistake. Please don’t say that._

 

Lena blinked back sudden tears and cursed her newfound whimsical ways once more.

 

“Maybe everything else we can't change,” her breath hit Kara’s skin lightly. “But we can hold all of that inside. In a box, just for us to keep close. Don't let it be tainted by anything else.”

 

Kara cradled Lena’s head suddenly as if she sensed that Lena’s fragility had become unguarded.

 

"I'm not sorry for spending time with you, Lena,” she insisted forcefully. “I told you I would worry about myself.”

 

Kara moved back from Lena’s forehead so she could place a gentle kiss to it instead.

 

“I'm just worried about where... and I can't believe I'm arguing this point… how I'm affecting your focus,” she continued once she pulled away. “You and I both know that this deal has been taking far longer for you to settle then your average.”

 

Lena blinked, pulling back slightly and arching an eyebrow in surprise. Although Kara tried her best to overlook the distasteful things, at least in her eyes, that Lena did, Lena never thought the day would come that she felt… guilt over the distraction she offered.

 

"There's a lot of holdouts,” Lena said lightly, trying to distract slightly while she digested what it all meant. “Thanks to you.”

 

Kara didn’t seem assuaged by her words, just let out a groan and pinched the bridge of her nose instead.

 

"This is so complicated,” she whispered.

 

And at that, Lena’s heart almost curdled and died. Part of her wanted to pull Kara towards her into a deep kiss, banish all thoughts and emotions from each other’s minds except desire. But she new that wouldn’t be fair, or right. 

 

So as much as killed her and caused her heart to race, she whispered out words she dreaded instead.

 

"Do you want to stop it?”

 

Kara whipped her head back around to look at Lena so fast, Lena thought she would get whiplash. The incredulity in Kara’s eyes at the thought simultaneously made Lena’s heart soar in relief and plummet in regret and guilt.

 

And Kara watched her with intensity, her eyes searching her face. Before she leaned in and nuzzled her nose against Lena’s cheek, making Lena’s skin shiver at the affection of it all.

 

"Come with me,” The whispered words in Lena’s ear made her want to do anything for her.

 

Lena nodded, moving to stand, but was halted by Kara’s hand on her arm. Lena gave her a questioning look instead, but barely had time to think before Kara stood up and scooped her into her arms as if she was lighter than air. Lena didn’t even react, beyond wrapping her arms around Kara’s neck to steady herself.

 

And Kara held her tighter, glaring at Lena’s injured foot.

 

“You shouldn’t be walking,” she said by way of explanation, before carrying Lena through the cottage and exiting outside with more grace then Lena thought she was capable of. 

 

And just like all things with Kara, it made Lena feel safe and wanted in a way she knew she didn’t deserve, but so desperately wanted all the same.

 

Her grip tightened too.

 

“What are we doing?” She questioned, noticing that Kara’s truck was parked a fair distance away in a nearby field.

 

Kara’s hummed.

 

“You'll see."

 

And at that, Lena didn’t say anything else. Just took in the soft pink light as the sun descended around them, bathing the harsh and cracked land in a way that gentled it. Made it kinder and offering more then it had given in a very long time. Lena couldn’t help but recall her dream that reoccured nearly every night. Of tall green grass and arms were encircling her from behind. And a faceless, simpleness of it all. And the joy in her heart that lasted through waking light. Everything inside her was shifting and changing, but when she was with Kara like this, the doubts and violent nature of it all just slipped away like the pink light of the sun. 

 

"What are we doing?” Lena asked again, Kara’s steps taking them to the old truck now, Oscar as Kara’s ever-present shadow jumped onto the opened tray and settled in on a large and squishy blanket Kara had laid out. Lena took in the scattered pillows, the small basket, and looked back up at Kara’s face who blushed under her scrutiny.

"I figured, we could watch the stars,” Kara whispered, almost embarrassed. “I got enough bug spray to last a lifetime, and this is... well, we seem to get along best when we're doing something together that’s…”

 

_Meaningful._

 

Lena felt it again, that flutter in her heart that refused to die, and she looked back at the setup.

 

"Something, huh?” She questioned, a slight tease in her voice.

 

Kara didn’t react beyond a sudden, hungry, flash in her eyes that made Lena’s breath catch.

 

“Yeah,” she answered. “Something.”

 

Lena swallowed, biting the inside of her cheek.

 

"Ok, I'll play,” she answered, Kara, grinning and lowering her onto the edge of the tray so she could sit. “At least this isn't a drive nearly out of state for a few days.”

 

Kara laughed, jumping up smoothly and making the truck rock.

 

"You loved it,” she answered, before taking Lena’s hand and helping her settle down. 

 

After Lena had applied enough bug repellant to fend off any mosquitos within one hundred miles, she leant back into Kara’s arms, propped up with many pillows, and they looked up into the sky. Not speaking much, nibbling at the food Kara had thoughtfully packed into the basket, Lena found herself pleasantly distracted by the activity of just observing at the final vestiges of sunlight disappeared, and the stars became visible in the dark. 

 

Kara’s rising chest against her back soothed her, along with the gentle way she ran her fingers up and down Lena’s arms, and Lena found her mind relaxing. Problems were seeming further away as if she and Kara had firmly landed back into the bubble that blocked everything else out. 

 

But some things still drifted at the edges of it all.

 

"How do you feel about this weekend?” Lena asked, guessing that the other woman might still be feeling nervous for rodeo quickly approaching. “You seemed like you were pretty frustrated the yesterday.”

 

Kara tensed slightly behind her, before wrapping her arm around Lena, slightly possessively though Lena couldn’t figure out why.

 

"It's fine…” she whispered into Lena’s ear. “I'm fine.”

 

Lena sighed.

 

“Kara."

 

The name was drawn out in the air, but Kara didn’t immediately respond. Enough time for Lena to let the subject go and stare once more into the sky. Watching as a few shooting stars zipped past through it, no doubt so many miles away and totally out of her reach.

 

Just like so many things these days. A happy ending being one.

 

Lena shook her head, banishing that outside of the bubble once more.

 

And then, as if it had somehow worked, Kara began to speak.

 

"I'm... I don't... mingle or do activities these days,” she breathed into Lena’s ear as if she almost feared anyone overhearing them, her arm warm against Lena’s chest. “I know that I'm organising these meetings and stuff, but you got to understand that _everyone_ is going to be there.”

 

Distaste coloured her voice on the last few words, and Lena could almost hear Kara’s lip curling at her ear. 

 

“People that I went to school with, the Lords, the Daxams... Edge. Everybody knows about me. I'm the local lunatic with the drunk father. I don't want to make a fool of myself, and I need this money. I've got a lot riding on this and if I fail... well, better to have never tried at all.”

 

Lena scowled then, instantly hating all the people in life that had ever hurt Kara no matter how irrational it was. And she could still remember that night in The Bar, with Edge half wrapped around Kara and ready to take advantage of her in the worst of ways. 

 

“I know I shouldn't give a shit about what any of them think,” Kara continued despite Lena’s disturbed thoughts. "But just once it would be nice to have an achievement. Something that means something.”

 

Lena felt like turning at that, affronted that Kara would ever feel like what she did didn’t have meaning. Lena knew that Kara had deep insecurities, the same as herself. But Lena never had in her life doubted her abilities, despite how much Lillian would have wanted her too. And she could always see the progress and success she had in anything she pursued. And it was hard sometimes to relate to Kara on that, knowing that just telling her that she should be proud of herself would never be enough to make Kara believe it no matter how often she said it. 

 

Kara pressed a kiss to the side of Lena’s forehead after another heavy sigh.

 

“Though, I guess winning a prize at a rodeo ain't nothing for you... ten thousand's probably chicken feed…But this could mean something for Dad and me.”

 

Lena supposed she should feel annoyed at Kara’s assumption of her, even though it was accurate. With the numbers that Lena dealt with day to day, even a million could be thrown around. Even in the middle of the messy company situation that Lex had landed them into. 

 

The memory of Lena buying a necklace she had never even worn once for ten thousand made her feel sick now. 

Kara was barely able to pay her phone bill.

 

And although she knew that Kara would never expect or accept charity from her, even though logically Lena knew she couldn’t give it, earning the same money that Lena wished she could gift her buy insanely almost killing herself would satisfy Kara’s pride.

 

Lena leant back into her arms, still watching the sky. 

 

"What are the rules?” She questioned, realising that she had never bothered to ask.

 

Kara’s mood seemed to pick up at that.

 

"It's out of a hundred points. You and the bull combined,” she explained. “You get fifty, so does he. It's the longest eight seconds of your life. Everything that you got, everything that the bull's got... It's all on those eight seconds. The judges mark you, and it’s an average of that.”

 

Lena nodded, absorbing it in.

 

“Any decent rider worth his salt will get at least a seventy-five, but if you're terrific and the bull your on is feisty enough, you can spur him on even more. But you've got to have great control,” Kara warned. “The judges are looking for a bull’s style of movement, agility, and the speed of its moves. Cause bulls have more raw power and a different style of movement, then Broncos. They spin in tight, quick circles, so it's essential that you're balanced. And you get marked on for constant your control and rhythm is as you try to match your movements with the bull.”

 

For someone so determined to view herself as unknowable and average at the sport, Kara sure did have a lot of passion in her voice. Not that Lena would ever say that. Even now that she knew the rules, she highly doubted she would have a clue what to look for that constituted a good ride.

 

"A lot to do in eight seconds then,” she answered.

 

Kara chuckled.

 

"Hell yeah!” She enthused. “And you're only scored for your actions during those eight seconds. That's why so many people hit the dirt, the second the buzzer sound. If you touch the bull, the rope, or yourself with your free arm, you’ll be disqualified.”

 

Lena tried to imagine herself riding a bull and shuddered. It would be a far cry even from the dressage rides she so despised.

 

"Has anyone ever scored one-hundred?” 

 

Kara nodded into her shoulder.

 

“Once,” she replied. “Even in the history of the sport, just once. To get that kind of a score is... For me, to get that kind of a score is impossible.”

 

Lena didn’t suppose she had enough knowledge to reasonably disagree.

 

"Why would you say that?”

 

Kara snorted, her voice darkened.

 

"Lena, entering me into this is crazy. I've ridden bulls before, but only at a teen level. I've never competed against men. It's not exactly inclusive and an equal opportunity sport.”

 

Lena tilted her head to look at Kara with one eye, putting on a shocked air.

 

"You don't say? Sexists? In Argo?”

 

Kara rolled her eyes, pinching Lena when she let out a laugh.

 

"Laugh it up,” she drawled at Lena’s squeak. “But when I fail miserably, hanging up or get my head kicked in, that'll be something that this place is going to remember about me… until the day I die.”

 

Lena didn’t know enough about the sport, though she highly doubted that Kara was as terrible as she claimed, to comment on that either. Instead, she let out a hum and rubbed patterns against the skin of Kara’s arm.

 

"What's it like?”

 

"Riding a bull?”

 

Lena nodded.

 

“Yeah."

 

Kara paused for a beat.

 

"Have you ever even seen a bull ride, Lena?” She asked.

 

"I saw you today.”

 

Kara snorted.

 

"That was different,” she replied bitterly. “That bull was one of Cat's, old and half deaf. I'm talking about a real ride. When you're a rider you've got the roar of the crowd, it's loud and packed. Nighttime too and the whole place is lit up under fluorescent lights. And everyone is half drunk and rowdy, except for you cause your heart is in your throat.”

 

Lena tried to imagine it with the words that Kara used to paint it out.

 

“And then they put you on a bull,” Kara continued, slightly breathless as if she saw it in her mind too. “You don't know what he's going to be like, or how he's going to react to you. You put your bull rope on him, sit tight and nod and then it's... It's like being in a car wreck when you seem to see everything in slow motion, but you know that it’s happening fast, and the only thing you have time to do is react instinctively.”

 

Lena thought about the single car accident she had been in and felt her heart beat faster at that memory alone. She wondered why anyone would optionally subject themselves to that, even for the money it offered.

 

“You don't have time to think; everything melts away… All it is is you and the bull and your pounding heart. And then, if by some miracle you've managed to fall back on your instincts and control, you've managed to stay on... it's all over. The whole world comes rushing back.”

 

And just like that, even though she had no clue, Lena still got it.

 

She turned suddenly, ignoring the pulse in her foot until she was straddling Kara and sitting in the other woman’s lap. Kara seemed surprised, but it quickly morphed into delight. Her hands automatically moving to rest on Lena’s hips. Lena places her own on Kara’s shoulders, moving them slowly up, watching for every detail of Kara’s reaction, until they rested on the back of her neck. Threading slowly into her hair, Lena tugged lightly and smiled at the way Kara’s mouth parted. 

 

"I think… you're going to do fine,” 

 

Slowly, inexorably, she presses his lips to Kara’s. It was soft and gentle and chaste, and maybe there was no fireworks or sparks, but it was better than that – it was a wave of warmth that filled her up, spilling out from her heart and the warmth of Kara’s lips on hers and rushing to every corner of her body. The cracks in between her toes, the crooks of her elbows, the tips of her ears. Every inch of her is saturated with…

 

Lena pulled back, trying not to frown at the way that thought almost finished in her mind.

 

Kara didn’t seem to notice though, her eyes slightly unfocused, before she blinked and smiled slowly.

 

"You're sweet,” she answered gently, moving to chase Lena’s mouth, but Lena pulled back, needing her words to come through.

 

"No, you are,” she insisted, staring intensely into Kara’s eyes and pressing her fingers into her skin. “No matter what. You've got that survival thing in you. You're one of those people that'll never be pushed down by life forever.”

 

Lena paused, the earnestness of it all, escaping her in favour of something else.

 

“And you are the sexiest, most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my entire life.”

 

Kara stared up at her like she was the sun, her eyes shimmering in the dark like they were reflecting the stars above them. 

 

Lena cracked a sly smile and tilted her head.

 

“And you're the most interesting person I think I've ever met.”

 

Kara laughed lightly at her words, her hands squeezing Lena’s hips, before letting go and wrapping her arms around Lena instead, pulling her even closer.

 

"You're not bad yourself, Lee.”

 

Lena shuddered at Kara’s throaty voice.

 

“I like it when you call me that.”

 

Kara hummed, pleased Before she bent into Lena and pressed a kiss against her neck.

 

"Do you?” She nipped at Lena’s skin, before soothing it with her tongue once more.

 

Lena groaned, shifting to give Kara more access.

 

"I do indeed, Ms Zorel,” she purred.

 

Kara smiled against her skin.

 

"Glad to hear that, Ms Luthor.”

 

A minute into Kara’s ministrations, Lena had reached the tipping point. Ready to tick off yet another new experience and sleep with Kara right then and there on the back of the farmer’s truck. But before she could voice it aloud, Kara paused in her activities and pulled back.

 

Lena frowned at the shadowy look in Kara’s eyes.

 

“What is it?”

 

Kara bit at her lip, clearly struggling before she spoke once more.

 

“I’m worried about it too.”

 

Lena’s confusion deepened.

 

“Sorry, what?”

 

Kara took a deep breath.

 

“I’m worried about it too,” she said again. “I hate him for it, but God do I understand why he does it.”

It clicked then.

 

“Do you _want_ to stop drinking?” She asked gently.

 

Kara looked away at that, letting out a breath and pressed into Lena in a tight hug. So close that Lena could feel her muscles shaking.

 

“I want… I want a lot of things,” she replied shakily. “Is it wrong to want to lean on something with everything that’s going on, even if it’s bad for you?”

 

_Me. Lean on me, even though I’m worse than drinking._

 

Lena blinked away the thought, an ominous ripple down her spine.

 

“No… that’s not wrong,” she sighed. “But it’s…”

 

But what could she say really? There was nothing she could say. Lena wasn’t a good enough person to tell anyone else what comfort they should seek. 

 

She wasn’t a good enough person for anything.

 

But Kara seemed to get what she didn’t say anyway.

 

“Yeah,” she whispered, still holding Lena tight.

 

Lena closed her eyes.

 

“You’re such a good person, Kara,” she whispered. “The best person.”

 

Kara groaned at that, pulling back from the hug and in one smooth movement, she twisted them so that Lena was pinned underneath while Kara hovered above. Lena winced slightly at the sudden twist in her foot, but the pain vanished in favour of the intensity in Kara’s eyes, and Lena blinked when a tear fell from them and hit her cheek.

 

In a breath, Kara traced the back of her hand across Lena’s face and wiped the tear away. 

 

“Lena… Lena,” she sounded out whimsically, a tremor in her voice as if she was revealing a secret. “I have to tell you something-“

 

Lena shook her head quickly, cutting Kara off.

 

“Don’t say it,” she insisted, terrified now. “Once you say it, you can’t take it back.”

 

Kara scoffed at that, exasperation in her eyes.

 

“I don’t want to take it back.”

 

Lena sighed, reaching up to trace Kara’s lips.

 

“You will,” she answered honestly. “I know it.”

 

Another tear fell on Lena’s face, and she could see more shimmering in Kara’s eyes.

 

“I’d never,” Kara husked. “I never would. You’re… breathtaking to my heart.”

 

Lena didn’t even know what to say to that, her whole body lighting up as if her nerves had been shocked by lightning.

 

“Kara-“

 

Kara shushed her.

 

“Be still,” she whispered, moving downwards slowly and kissing Lena’s chest, slowly unbuttoning her shirt. “Let me make you forget how much you don’t want me to say it.” 

 

* * *

 

"Lex? It's me.”

 

There was an exceedingly long and drawn out pause, long enough to make Lena roll her eyes at her brother’s petulance, given that he ignored five of her calls today before he finally picked up the phone.

 

Though, she supposed, after ignoring him for a month maybe he had a right to be petulant.

 

"I gathered,” he finally drawled in a caustic tone. “As your name came up as you called. Have you finally decided to talk to me?”

 

Lena sniffed, sitting on top on Kara’s truck in the early morning light, the other woman still asleep in her bed for once, and her hurt foot rested on Oscar’s back as he sat loyally with her. 

 

"I've kept you abreast of the situation via emails alongside my team-“

 

Lex cut her off with a snort.

 

"I'm not talking about your fucking professionalism, Lena,” he growled, angrier then she had heard him in a long time. “That's your fallback for everything. I'm talking about the fact that we haven't spoken in a month and that is the longest we've _ever_ not spoken since you were first adopted.”

 

Lena held her breath, eyes darting towards the cottage where she was guessing Kara was lying face down and naked. She had a sudden desire to be there, instead of talking to her brother.

 

"I was doing my job,” she answered listlessly.

 

Lex paused too at her words before she heard a slamming sound echoing down the line and she knew him well enough to guess that he’d thrown something.

 

"You've gone and fallen in love with her, haven't you?"

 

Lena didn’t reply, and Lex sighed.

 

"Your silence speaks volumes more than you ever could.” His words softer and far more exhausted now.

 

Lena grunted, feeling annoyed for being chastised like a child for something she’d never said or admitted to.

 

"I gather the company hasn't gone up in flames yet?” She lashed out spitefully instead. “You haven't managed to do something else that I'll have to sort out?”

 

“Lena…” Ignoring her words. “I love you to death. You're not just my sister, you're my best friend, and I say this as a friend... You've got defensive issues.”

 

Lena felt her ire die. 

 

"Lex-"

 

"No, Lena.” Cutting her off. “I haven't fucked anything else up. I'm a good boy. You do realise; this whole issue would be redundant if you just stepped up as CEO.”

 

Lena hesitated the words that she _would_ be a better CEO than him sitting on her tongue. But she would never have the heart or spine to say it.

 

"And clean up the messes even more publically?” She muttered instead, with enough bitterness to sell it. “No, thanks.”

 

Lex laughed slightly, and Lena could hear the sound of more shuffling alongside the tinkling of ice cubes falling into a glass. The sound made her frown, her heart dropping a bit when she realised that her brother was drinking this early in the morning, no doubt because he had never gone to bed last night. 

 

After her conversation with Kara last night, she prepared herself to call him out too, but before she could, Lex spoke.

 

"I'm sorry,” he whispered, his deep voice trembling so much that he sounded more like a child than a grown man. 

 

Lena didn’t know whether she wanted to hug him or to hit him. Her brother had been through a lot in his life, and she knew that he clung the emotional support of their relationship as much as she did. Or rather, she used to. These days, Lena couldn’t stop from guilty admitting to herself that she had found new fledgling bonds here. Between Sam, Ruby and Kara, she felt more seen then she could remember being in a long time. She didn’t feel like she always had to be looking over her shoulder for the next betrayal with these people, and that in itself made them so much better then the crowd she and Lex had grown up with.

 

But she supposed, that might be because she was the Brutus in this situation.

 

And Lex, even though she knew he had a point with his biting words from their last conversation, he had been the one not so subtly to nudge her down this path. And he did have no business judging her or attacking what she did privately when she had never let him down in her life.

 

"I know you're sorry, Lex,” she replied sorrowfully. “It doesn't solve anything.”

 

She heard him swallow.

 

"I'm still sorry.”

 

Lena didn’t know how to explain it then. How to put it all into to words for him in a way that she always had, and stubbornly, failed to do for herself.

 

“She’s…"

 

And that was it, all she could deliver on it. But she knew that a part of Lex would understand despite his wrong reassurance that he’d never felt affection for anyone but her in his life. 

 

“This is the hardest thing I've ever done, Lex.”

 

Her brother sighed slightly down the line, and Lena braced herself, but all that came out instead was tired acceptance.

 

"You tell me you want to come home, then you come home, Lena. You want to pull out of this; I can send someone else in. I can.”

 

It was like a warm hug, the words in Lena’s ear. The next best things would have been having Lex beside her to give it.

 

"No, Lex,” she replied. “That would be a cowardly move. To you and to.. her.”

 

Lex huffed.

 

" _You_ are more important to me than anything else in the world, Lena,” he choked out emotionally. “I just... I want you to be happy.”

 

And she knew he did. Right down to her bones, she knew that. That was why he had been next to her through every injury, ever argument with Lillian, every time she had a broken heart. That was why he folded around her, sharing everything he learned to her as an eager girl just because she wanted to know. That was why he would forsake friends and trips to Aspen to visit her in boarding school, much to Lillian’s ire, because she hadn’t been allowed to come home for the holidays. It was why she couldn’t abandon him now, or ever. Because just like Kara, she understood that their were some people in your life that meant more than words. That had so much more than blood between them or familial bonds. It was about shared memories and acts of kindness.

 

And love. 

 

"The only thing that will make me happy is making sure our company is safe,” she answered forcefully, suddenly feeling tearful. “That our employees are safe and you're not in jail for the biggest fuck up in corporate history. This deal will make all of that happen.”

 

And even though it might destroy every other part of her, every other part, she knew that this had to be the right choice.

 

She had to believe it was.

 

"You're treading on thin ice, sister,” Lex cautioned. “I should never have encouraged you to walk on it. I mean, I joked about it, but I never thought that you'd fall in…"

 

Lena gritted her teeth, even though he didn’t say it.

 

"I'm not,” she insisted.

 

He let out a disbelieving sound.

 

"Lena, I'm supposed to be the one looking after you, remember? You can tell me the truth. We always tell each other the truth. You and me against the world, right?" 

 

Lena ran a hand down her face, suddenly feeling exhausted.

 

"I'm fine, Lex.”

 

For once, blessedly, he didn’t push the topic. Maybe for once having the sensitivity to realise that he shouldn’t. 

 

"Come home soon, Lena,” he whispered emotionally instead. “I miss you.”

 

She felt tears prickle behind her eyes at his words.

 

"I miss you too.”

 

Lex paused.

 

"I love you.”

 

Lena laughed before she replied.

 

"I love you too.”

 

The man let it linger in the air before he spoke again in a gentle tone. As if she was afraid she would bolt like a nervous horse.

 

“And you can love her too,” he said, uncomfortably. “Don’t… I don’t…. want you to think that…you can’t. Not for me.”

 

Lena swallowed at his words and for the first time all the negativity and the reasons she couldn’t slipped away, in favour of a need to want to. 

 

Because she did want to, she wished that she could.

 

“Are we hateful people, Lex?” She answered, shuddering slightly.

 

Lex clicked his tongue.

 

“You were born from love, Lena,” he answered forcefully, almost willing it into truth. “You could never be hateful. I’d never let you be hateful.”

 

Lena scoffed, wiping away the tears that had managed to fall from her eyes.

 

“It’s not something you can just force, Lex.”

 

Lena could almost hear him smile.

 

“Yes I can,” he said in a proud faux voice. “I’m the master of the universe, remember?”

 

Lena shook her head, a small grin growing on her face before she caught a flash of white at the corner of her eye. Turning her head, she realised that Kara was standing on the verandah of the cottage, leaning against a post, wearing nothing but one of Lena’s crisp shirts. Her hair tumbling down her shoulders as she pretended not to be watching Lena, sipping at a cup of coffee.

 

Lena felt her grin morph into something softer.

 

She didn’t know how to feel.

 

“You’re an idiot,” Lena answered to her brother, eyes not leaving Kara’s face.

 

“I’m _your_ idiot, though,” Lex laughed.

 

Lena’s eyes grew misty once more.

 

“Yes, you are my idiot through and through.”

 

* * *

 

Lena swirled the glass of wine in front of her, not relishing the cheap taste, but appreciating it none the less. The past week had been even more of an emotional roller coaster then the past month combined. Kara making the sudden shift to being glued to her side, whenever she wasn’t at Cat’s training to get herself killed. She had spent every night with Lena, not even leaving the bed until Lena had woken up herself and usually initiated a round of sex that had Lena’s whole body feel like jelly and very much in the mood not to work that day. 

 

Which should make her wonder if that was Kara’s intention, though she knew the other woman was hardly subtle when it came to convincing Lena to stop doing her job. 

 

Not that there had been anything subtle about making Lena bite down on her arm so hard she drew blood, all because she refused to have a conversation with Kara’s father where he had ample ammunition to throw _her_ screaming back in her face. 

 

But at the end of it all, and all the confusion, Lena found herself calling Sam with a sudden urge to talk. To have a break and catch her breath. 

 

Lena couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment that she and Sam had become closer, but it had inexplicably become routine to spend at least one dinner a week in the Arias household. It helped that Sam didn’t seem to have a single thing to say to her about her work here, content to share more about her life and Lena’s then talk about it. And Lena enjoyed seeing Ruby too who, thankfully, finally looked like the weight of the world was on her shoulders and managed to smile. According to her, everyone at her school was giving her a wide berth, and though Lena should have been concerned too about Ruby’s lack of friends, the other girl reassured her that she much preferred to be left alone. 

 

Though with Carter’s blatant adoration of the girl when Lena had seen them together, Lena knew that she at least had one person who was eternally devoted to her. It made her wonder that if he had been at school with her, he wouldn’t stoically guard her against any attacks.

 

Though, perhaps Cat’s desire not to have her son come home with a broken nose was precisely why she homeschooled him. 

 

"So... “ Sam drawled, taking a sip of her glass and eyeing Lena amusedly. "You’ve listened to me complaining about preschoolers for the past thirty minutes, but I'm guessing that's not the reason you came to talk to me, is it?”

 

Lena let out a breath, gaze flickering to where Ruby was playing a video game in the living room — loudly killing whatever opponent, she was facing on the screen.

 

"I don't... have friends, Sam,” Lena replied, vaguely. “Apart from my brother. Is it wrong for me to want to be able to talk to someone who isn't Kara about... everything?”

 

Sam didn’t even pause to think.

 

"Of course not.” She smiled. “You're only human.”

 

It was such a simple phrase, but Lena had been taught her entire life that no, she wasn’t only human. She was a Luthor, and therefore couldn’t be subject to the same low standards that everyone else was. Confidence, intelligence, emotionless. That was who she was trained to be, and despite her numerous years out from under Lillian’s clutches, it was still her fallback in nearly everything in her life.

 

"I know what you're probably thinking,” Lena muttered into her glass despondently. “Poor little rich woman. The world in her hand, what does she know about misery.”

 

Because what did she possibly have to complain about compared to all the people living in this town. Hell, ninety-five per cent of the people living in the U.S. Lena wasn’t broke or starving. She would never have to work like Kara and get pittance back. She would always have a roof, a very nice roof, over her head and she didn’t have to be terrified that if she got sick, she could bankrupt her family. 

 

But Sam didn’t nod or look at her bitterly, just continued to give her that same soft smile.

 

"No, that's not what I was thinking at all,” she replied gently. “I think you've got as much right as anyone else on this rock to feel whatever you're feeling.”

 

Lena sat back in her chair, staring at Sam until she couldn’t contain herself anymore.

 

"Kara and I are sleeping together,” she blurted out.

 

Sam’s tilted her head.

 

"I see.”

 

She didn’t sound surprised.

 

"You knew,” Lena sighed. 

 

Sam reached across to table to pat Lena’s hand.

 

"She didn't say a word, Lena. Honestly. But... Kara's not exactly subtle either.”

 

Lena thought of this morning once more, fingers twisting in sheets, and she flushed slightly.

 

"So the whole town knows then?” She winced.

 

Sam waved her hand vaguely as if Kara and Lena’s _relationship_ didn’t undermine her authority and credibility even more.

 

“Rumours,” Sam replied. “This place would-“

 

"Fall over if not for them,” Lena grumbled.“Yeah, I know.”

 

She knocked back the remaining wine in her glass, and she felt a bitter rush in her heart.

 

This was precisely why she hated small towns.

 

Sam gave her a knowing look.

 

"I've never seen her like this before, you know. Ever since you came, she's been... Happier.”

 

Lena felt like sighing.

 

"I would have thought I would only add stress to her life,” knowing that any hope or happiness she was giving Kara was false.

 

Sam seemed to glean the meaning from what she didn’t say anyway, pouring both her and Lena another glass. Taking a long sip, she didn’t reply to Lena’s words until she had light flush in her cheeks.

 

"Well, you are both sleeping with the enemy in a certain sense... but, not in all of them,” she drawled in a pondering voice. “Kara is the strongest, bravest, wisest person that I've ever had the good fortune to know. She's the best thing about, what Ruby might describe, as this 'skid mark of the world', but she's walked her path alone her entire life carrying some pretty heavy baggage.”

 

Lena nodded, agreeing with Ruby’s description and with what Sam was trying to impress upon her.

 

“It's not been easy to watch a woman who I admire so much take on an entire town's burdens, especially considering half of them wouldn't even consider taking on her’s,” Sam continued.“And she never asks for anything back, from anyone. Maybe she has occasionally light fingers of certain figures in the community, but frankly, they deserve it.”

 

Lena arched an eyebrow at that, having, of course, heard the accusations from Lords before in their meetings, but she hadn’t believed them. Though, she couldn’t find herself thinking Kara was wrong.

 

"But despite all that, you are here highlighting... in Kara's eyes, you're more than just an obstacle. You're.... life.”

 

Lena didn’t want to be that, though. She didn’t want to be life to Kara when she knew she could never give her back what she wanted so much.

 

“You swept in, the most interesting thing to happen around here, and she hasn't been able to go one day without talking about you,” Sam continued. 

 

“She loves you.”

 

Lena startled, the words giving her an electric shock and Sam gave her a look that was full of truth and understanding.

 

"And when she looks at you, most of the time anyway, she doesn't see an enemy,” the other woman shrugged. “She sees... you. And if I'm not mistaken, I think you might feel the same way.”

 

Lena felt the panic, clawing at her throat and heart.

 

"I'm not in love with her,” she rushed.

 

Sam had the good grace not to react to the not entirely wrong denial in Lena’s words.

 

“Ok… But you like her, and you're sleeping with her, and you're all but living with her,” Sam continued, before leaning back in her chair and taking another sip of her drink. “And you're clearly in turmoil about mixing business with... pleasure.”

 

Lena didn’t know how to respond to that, or Sam’s innuendo.

 

But she still let out a groan and ran her hand down her face.

 

"She thinks she's going to change my mind,” Lena husked. “She can't, and the longer that I stay with her-“

 

"It won't help,” Sam cut her off bluntly. “No matter if you leave, stay, disappear off the face of the earth. In no world will Kara ever concede, or think she's going to lose Solitude. You're just a bonus to convince in her crusade.”

 

Lena supposed she shouldn’t have been so arrogant as to assume otherwise, but a part of her wished that she had influenced Kara’s behaviour. So she didn’t have to feel the wicked comfort that Sam’s words gave her.

 

And Sam was still staring at her with soft, persistent eyes.

 

“Kara's vice has always been her goodness, her inability to believe that the people she chooses to let in are anything but exceptional and kindhearted,” Sam gentled. “And are genuinely, deeply, on her side.”

 

Lena looked away from Sam’s face, at a finger painting with curling edges that Sam refused to take down from the fridge no matter how much it embarrassed her daughter.

 

"I'm the total opposite,” she whispered in reply.

 

Sam chuckled, raising her glass in a toast and turning Lena’s attention back to her and her now smirk.

 

"And therein, lies the problem, doesn't it? Because you _think_ that.”

 

Lena wanted to shout that it wasn’t just something that she thought, but was the truth. But she highly doubted that such a display would convince Sam.

 

Letting out another groan instead, Lena let her head thump against the table instead.

 

"This is a disaster,” she muttered into the wood.

 

Sam laughed over her.

 

"Life's a disaster, Lena,” she teased. “You just have to make it _your_ disaster.”

 

Lena didn’t even want to try and decipher what that meant. So she twisted her head, eyeing Sam sideways.

 

"So, what should I do?”

 

Sam shrugged, still smirking.

 

"Go to the rodeo."

 

Lena couldn’t help but laugh, hysterically enough for even Ruby to give her a concerned look, before she sat up and sighed. Leaning over the table and braced her head in her hands.

 

"What is with this town?” She muttered.

 

Sam shrugged again before Ruby shouted out. Making Lena realise she had probably heard their entire conversation.

 

"It's something in the water.”

 

Lena shot Sam a glare when she laughed at her daughter’s flippant words. But then, her heart softened, and she felt tears grow behind her eyes.

 

“You people… God, you people. You almost make it worth it to leave forever.”

 

But the problem was, now Lena didn’t want to leave.

 

Sam smiled at her gently again.

 

“It’s ok if you do love her, Lena,” sh insisted. “She’s so easy to love.”

 

Lena thought of Lex, of her home in the city. Her empty apartment and Veronica, who was probably still off on a yacht somewhere, surrounded by models and spending all of Lena’s money.

 

“I’m not capable. Not for anyone,” she replied darkly. “Not in that way.”

 

* * *

 

Lena was annoyed, severely so. Being summoned by anyone wasn’t something that ever made her happy, but especially not by horrible people that had insisted that this meeting was a matter of life or death. 

 

Especially considering she could be in Kara’s company instead.

 

Lena walked into the garishly decorated study, eyeing the stuffed animal heads on the walls that Edge had hung with distaste. The man himself was standing behind his desk, arms crossed and giving her a glare so filled with venom that Lena knew he hadn’t forgotten that night at The Bar anymore then she had. A portly man was standing next to him, who Lena guessed was the third member of this trio of hell and on his other side was Rhea Daxam. 

 

The woman smiled at her, Lena scanning the fake and dishonesty. But still, Rhea reached out her hand for Lena to shake.

 

"Ms Luthor delighted to see you again. Given the extended period that you have stayed in the area, I thought it about time that we all met.”

 

Lena ignored the hand until it dropped, and Edge let out an annoyed grunt.

 

"She means to say what the hell is taking so long.”

 

Lena arched an eyebrow but otherwise kept her expression schooled and impassive.

 

"Edge. Always a pleasure.”

 

The man’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t otherwise respond. The portly man next to him shifted, uncomfortable, before smiling oily at her.

 

"Ms Luthor, my name is Maxwell Lord-“

 

"Yes, I know who you are,” Lena cut him off dismissively, before eyeing Rhea coldly. “So what is this, a meeting of the minds?”

 

The woman continued to smile that Lena guessed was an attempt to appear non-threatening. 

 

"We just want to know what progress you've made-"

 

"What we want to know is what the hell is going on with you and the Zorel bitch.”

 

Lena’s stoicism broke, her face twisting into a snarl.

 

"One more word, Edge,” she growled, glaring at the man. “One, and I will make the rest of your life miserable beyond comprehension.”

 

The threat didn’t seem to register with the man, his lip curling like she was a bad smell.

 

"You think we're idiots?” He spat out, smugness rolling off of him. “We know there's a reason that you're here — a reason bigger than just acquiring land. You want something with this entire area specifically. And we're your key to getting it, so it would do you well not to piss us off anymore and stop treating us like children.”

 

Lena felt a shiver run down her spine at that and looked over the rest of the group quickly annoyed that she had underestimated them.

 

"I don't think you're a child, Edge,” Lena replied, instead of acknowledging his main point. “I think you're greed personified.”

 

The man’s face turned purple, and he was about to reply when Rhea cut him off with a raised hand.

 

"Ms Luthor, please forgive us,” she smoothed gently. “We want to be helpful in any way we can, to show you that the deal we all want to embark on is the right thing to do. Instead of letting certain elements of this town convince you otherwise. We are a worthwhile investment.”

 

Lena hated sycophants.

 

"I don't have to explain Luthor Corp's business model to you.”

 

And with that, Rhea’s smile morphed into something cruel and cold.

 

"Yes, and we don't owe _you_ exclusive loyalty. Nothing has been signed — no commitments on paper. As a group, our land makes up nearly half of the area you want to buy. We could say... propose to another interested party the lucrative possibilities this place holds that I'm sure are hidden somewhere under a pile of paper.”

 

Lena felt her hackles rise at the smugness and self-assured tone. 

 

“That is unless you can make a few guarantees,” Rhea continued. “None of us wants a situation where only our land is bought, and the others left. That would be, counterproductive.”

 

Lena had never liked these types of people, even though they were necessary to closing deals like this. But god, she never wanted them. Liars, backstabbers and disloyal to the people that they should be helping. She bit down of her inner cheek hard enough to draw blood, the coppery last filling her mouth. 

 

It wasn’t hard for her to understand why Kara hated them so much.

 

"Are you so petty that you would refuse a payday, just to seek revenge against all the people you don't like?” She spat.

 

Rhea didn’t seem affected by her words.

 

"It's nothing personal, Ms Luthor. But we make more money that way too. With all that you promised us-“

 

That rankled Lena even more, her eyes flashing with rage.

 

"I know very well what I offered!” She snapped out, her hands clenching.

 

Rhea paused, giving her a long look.

 

"Then why is it taking so long?”

 

Lena’s eyes narrowed, reading into what the woman wasn’t saying. She knew perfectly well why it was taking so long and why. But Lena had played at this game for far longer than these people, and no matter how cunning they thought they were, Lena could always tell when people bluffed.

 

"Deals get delayed, that's the nature of this line of work,” she said coldly, moving to leave. “Rest assured, everything is progressing. All you three need to do is sit still, getting fat while your neighbours starve.”

 

The Lord man spoke suddenly.

 

"Ms Luthor-“

 

She rounded on all of them, her eyes like ice and her words like poison.

 

"I am a member of one of the most powerful families in the country, not just the county,” she hissed, her voice deadly. “If you ever, ever, talk to me like you have today I will every single one of you into the ground, take everything you own and through you out with nothing but the clothes on your back.”

 

For the first time that night, it was the three of them that shifted uncomfortably in their place. Lena looked them all over meaningfully, letting her threat settle.

 

“You think you have _me_ over the brine barrel?” She scoffed. “You are all deeply mistaken. Do you think I don't _see_ through your forced politeness? If your thinly veiled bigotry didn't already make me want to destroy you entirely, then your deep, disdainful, lack of empathy for the people in what was supposed to be your hometown has made it so.”

 

Because all she could see now was the faces of all the right people, she had met hear. Old fathers and wives and sons and daughters, who were just trying to do their best to survive. Just like Cat and Carter and Sam and Ruby and Kara. All of whom had more integrity in their little finger then the three of these people combined.

 

“Don't contact me again, or dare to summon me like I'm beholden to you,” Lena husked out. “I contact _you_. I summon _you_.” 

 

Rhea looked suitably chastised, Edge pale.

 

"Ms Luthor, that wasn't our intent-“

 

Lena cut the man off for the final time.

 

"You don't look altogether too bright, Mr Lord,” she drawled cooly. “But now would be a very, very, good time for you to be quiet.”

 

And on that final line, she turned on her heel and glided out of the room like she owned the house already. Stepping out on the front verandah, she finally let herself take a deep breath. Thoughts that had clouded her mind, now burnt away with the blazing fire of her anger. The deep swell of uncertainty over what she was doing with Kara, banished well beyond the fringes of her caring. 

 

“So... you're the big fancy exec that Luthor Corp sent down, huh? You ain't what I expected.”

 

Lena startled at the dry voice, turning sharply in its direction and taking in the man who had spoken. With his dark hair, brown eyes and rugged features, leaning against the house with a cigarette in his mouth, Lena could see that some people might find him attractive. All but his nose, which was half bent out of shape and looked like it had been recently broken.

 

But still, there was something about the way he was standing, the way he was leaning, that stirred a memory at the back of her mind and Lena couldn’t help but feel she had met him once before.

 

"Who are you?” 

 

The man seemed non-plussed by her harsh words, flicking down the butt of his cigerette and squashing it beneath his boot.

 

“Max Lord... Junior,” he drawled in reply, his eyes raking over her figure and making Lena’s mood darken further.

 

"Yes, well-“ She tried to say, turning to walk to her car. 

 

"She's got you all tied up in knots, hasn't she?” His words cut across.

 

She stopped at his words, her entire body tensing.

 

"Excuse me?” She spat viciously, turning to eye him warningly.

 

The man’s smirk was irritating her skin.

 

"She's a wily one, that's for sure,” he continued, disregarding the signals she was giving him. “Never quite right in the head. Aggressive and all that.”

 

Kara’s face flashed in her mind, a broad smile on her face, and Lena felt the sudden urge to slap the smirk off of the idiot’s face. Still, eyeing his broken nose made her mood cheer slightly, knowing that Kara had been the one to break it. Then her mood dropped once more, and she scowled, knowing that he had also gotten a restraining order against her because of it.

 

"I have no idea what you're talking about,” she replied, ice in her voice.

 

The man scoffed at her words, eyeing her even more lasciviously. 

 

"Oh boy, she's got you good.” He stepped away from the wall and into her space, close enough for Lena’s nose to wrinkle at the horrible deodorant he had sprayed himself in.

 

“Just so you know, that one's a born liar,” he mused, projecting an air of intelligence and knowledge, making Lena want to role her eyes. “The whole family is mad. The mother topped herself and rumour is her uncle wrapped him and his wife around that tree on purpose.”

 

Lena’s jaw twitched and tightened, but she refused to rise to his bait.

 

“Then there's the drinking,” he continued after he didn’t get a reaction from her. “But I suppose you know all about that. And the thieving. Do you think we're bad, Ms Luthor? At least we don't pretend and we ain't flaunting our sins.”

 

At that, Lena stiffened even more. Suddenly aware of just how close this man was standing in front of her.

 

“Her and that whole lot she hangs out with are immoral scum,” he started, his handsome features twisted with the ugliness of his words. “God didn’t call for the things they engage in.”

 

Lena was hardly the religious sort, but she knew enough to know that people who ran around impressing upon everyone how much more Godly they were than everyone else, were usually the most rotten in the lot.

 

Lillian being the prime example, so disappointed in her daughter’s deviant lifestyle. 

 

Because being who you are was somehow a lifestyle choice.

 

"Ah, religion,” Lena drawled, carefully shifting back to get a bit more space without appearing intimidated. “What a wonderful tool to condemn others with and hide behind. Especially for _goodC_ hristians like yourself. So helpful and understanding.”

 

The man’s smirk grew, and his eyes darkened with something that made bile rise in Lena’s throat.

 

"I'm just saying... you seem like a smart girl,” he licked his lips. “If you wanted someone to warm your bed that bad for as long as you're here, you didn’t have to pick up the scraps. There are better choices.”

 

Lena scoffed, uncaring at the anger and offence that reflected it on his face — stepping back once more.

 

"There are _so_ many reasons why that will never happen, chief among them is that on no planet, Mr Lord, are you anyone's better choice.”

 

With the scorn bright, she turned to walk away, the growl from the man behind her, not stopping her.

 

"Heard tell you were a dyke,” he spat, grabbing at her shoulder. “Pity. You're good enough looking-“

 

Lena’s anger turned to a full blown rage in a snap, and she turned sharply on her heel, balancing her weight and throwing back her hand into an expert punch that had been honed by over a decade of martial arts training. His nose crunched under her fist, and he hunched over with a cry at the loud crack. And she was delighted that she had re-broken it, both her and Kara putting their mark on his ugly face.

 

Lena shook out her hand, ignoring the sting in her knuckles.

 

"Try taking _me_ to court, asshole,” she snarled.“I dare you.”

 

Lord glared up at her through his tears, pressing a hand across his tears and tried to stem the bleeding.

 

“You fucking bitch!”

 

The words came out lisped and hurt, enough to make Lena smile cruelly. Staring down at him, she arched at eyebrow and watched him whimper with derision.

 

“Yes,” she drawled, looking down at him like he was a snail she had stepped on. “And I’m the bitch that can _fucking_ destroy you.”

 

Leaving him, writing on the ground, she was finally able to walk away. Entering her car and roar down the driveway, leaving a cloud of dust behind her that left her far too satisfied. Driving for a few minutes, sitting in the thrill of adrenaline, anger and spitefulness that she had created, Lena suddenly left out a laugh.

 

And she laughed and laughed and laughed until she cried. 

 

Because no matter how much she wished and hoped and prayed that Kara wouldn’t fall in love with her, she’d been unable to stop herself from falling in love with Kara.

 

* * *

 

She was shifting a pile of rusted bundles of wire when Lena found her. Kara’s back muscles strained against the sweat-stained tank top she was wearing, and Lena felt her arousal deepen. Unable to contain herself, she strode towards her. Kara looked up upon hearing her steps, turning toward her with a smile, tilted her hat back on her head and threw the final bundle on the pile she had created. 

 

"Hey there, strang-“

 

Lena grabbed her arm, Kara’s muscles tightening under her touch. A groan in the back of Lena’s throat grew, one of her hands came to grip Kara’s hip under her thin shirt pulling her close, while the other let go of her arm and slid into Kara’s soft hair running loose down her back. She used her grip to pull Kara down as she surged up, her stomach twisting in anticipation.

 

Her lips parted as soon as she made contact with Kara’s, licking into her mouth, and then against Kara’s tongue as she scratched her hand up and down Kara’s side. Not bothering to be soft or gentle, the way she was usually want to do because she loved the way it made Sansa shudder lightly against her. Instead, Kara let out a loud groan and pulled Lena even tighter. 

 

And then Lena let herself feel the still very present lingering sting her knuckles from when she had punched Lord in the nose, and the curling feeling of arousal and deep want in the pit of her stomach grew. She scratched a little harder, her nails leaving marks on Kara’s body.

 

She wanted to feel Kara against her fast and hard and right here outside under the still hot sun, now low in the sky. Wanted to make her come around her fingers, to feel her clenching for her, hear her crying out for her. Right here, right now.

 

But they both had to break for air, Kara’s pupils full and blown out as she stared down at her with almost bruised lips. 

 

“Wow,” Kara breathed, Lena, feeling her heart pound through her skin while they were still pressed tight together. “What was that-“

 

Lena grabbed Kara’s wrist, not letting her finish her question and started to drag her towards the cottage.

 

"Come on.”

 

Kara stumbled behind her but didn’t complain. Both of them clambering up at the steps and Lena barely waiting until the door slammed behind them before she pulled Kara back into a searing kiss. She quickly pushed, pressing her hips into Kara’s and then forced her back against the hallway wall. The back of Kara’s head thudded against it, and her Stetson fell off at the sudden movement. 

 

Lena took the opportunity to weave her fingers into Kara’s hair and pulled tightly, making Kara hiss slightly. Lena paused for a second, regaining some control of her faculties and prepared to pull back and apologise. But the second she parted from the kiss, Kara chased her lips and pulled them into her mouth, biting hard enough to sting.Lena grinned wickedly after that when Kara started to fumble at the buttons of her shirt. Lena joined her, practically ripping it off herself before she returned the gesture and pulled Kara’s tank top over her head. 

 

Together, they stumbled down the hallway, kicking off shoes and unzipping Kara’s jeans.Lena ground against Kara’s bare leg, annoyed that she was still wearing a skirt and the thought alone of what they would already be doing if she wasn’t made her groan into Kara’s mouth, and in return, she heard a soft sound Kara exhaled before her leg ground up against Lena as best as she could. 

 

But it wasn’t enough. Not for either of them, and she pulled back, dragging her teeth over Kara’s bottom lip as she went, relishing in the shiver she got in response.

 

Kara’s hands moved, jumping to life, one digging into Lena’s waist, and the other sliding under her hair and into her neck in a possessive way that might leave a bit of a mark, and it shot another spark down Lena’s spine.

 

She ran her fingertips down over the soft skin of Kara’s defined stomach, feeling the muscles jump under her before she stroked just above the line of Kara’s hips, a mischievous smile tugging at her mouth when she heard the gasp Kara let out, her forehead falling against Lena’s shoulder.

 

Lena pressed into it, this time using her tongue to run along Kara’s neck before she breathed softly. 

 

“I want you,” Lena whispered as dropped her hand lower.

 

Kara groaned, and she could feel her shift, reaching to pull her up in her arms and carry her the way that she tended to do. Before she could, Lena turned the tables. She was determined to take control and lifted Kara instead, much to the other woman’s surprise. She let out a sharp breath as she wrapped her legs around Lena’s waist, and gasped when Lena pulled her tight, bracing one arm under Kara’s thigh and the other across her back as she carried her into the bedroom. 

 

Lena laid her down gently, stepping back and heatedly, keeping her eyes locked on Kara’s as she stepped out of the last of her clothes and let them pool at her feet. Kara breathing hard, still laying on her back with heavy lidded eyes let out a hard sound when Lena flipped her hair over her shoulder, kneeled onto the mattress and began to crawl up her body slowly. Pressing kisses along Kara’s stomach, up her chest she delighted in the sounds she was making. Lena chuckled lightly when Kara arched against her and grasped at her hips hard enough to leave bruises. 

 

“Mine,” Lena whispered against her neck, licking the salt from her skin until she reached her jaw. “Tonight you’re mine.”

 

Dipping her fingers lower, Kara shuddered and groaned as Lena found her centre.

 

“Your’s,” she moaned. “Only your’s.”

 

* * *

 

An hour later, Lena shuddered on top of Kara, grinding slowly into her fingers one more time before she pressed a breathless kiss against the other woman’s shoulder and followed as Kara fell back against the mattress. Lena rolled off of her after a beat, and they both lay there, breathing hard as they stared up at the ceiling. 

 

Lena’s entire body felt stretched out and satiated, and she let out a light laugh when Kara threaded their fingers together and gave them a tight squeeze. 

 

"Not that I'm complaining…” Kara panted out. “But where exactly did that come from?”

 

At the words, the realisation that she had fallen in love with Kara hit her full in the chest once more. She felt Kara’s questioning eyes on the side of her face, but she didn’t look. Instead choosing to continue staring at the ceiling as she tried to process it all and figure out what she was supposed to say. It was one thing for the feelings to explode out of her in the most visceral way possible, claiming and marking every inch of her in every way she could. But Lena had never been good at explaining things aloud. 

 

That wasn’t true. She was excellent at explaining everything aloud, except for her feelings. Feelings like love which were already complicated enough, without the added burden of everything that was going on with them both and the messy situation they were in. 

 

How could she have allowed herself to be so stupid, with everything else that was at stake? 

 

And how demonstrably unfair was she for doing this to Kara The fact that she never even have started this affair given all she was trying to take away from her ate at her. Shifting the dynamic of power that could only be compromising, taking advantage of her this way. And even though she knew nothing that had occurred between them had been about that, the facts still rang true and hung above them like a dark cloud. 

 

She couldn’t tell her.

 

Lena turned her head, bringing up their joined hands so she could kiss the back of Kara’s. 

 

Staring into her eyes, searching for the right words, Lena let out a light sigh. 

 

"I thought you might need a stress release before your big day tomorrow.”

 

She felt a part of herself curdle and die, the dishonesty of what she was withholding eating at her like acid. But she repressed it as hard as she could, relieved that Kara’s eyes stayed transparent and open, even though a slight edge of nervousness filled them.

 

"That certainly was a distraction,” Kara replied, before frowning and looking back up at the ceiling. “But I don't think it'll be constructive to think about it when I'm trying to focus on not looking like the biggest idiot on the planet.”

 

Lena’s inner turmoil dropped away in favour of fierce defensiveness and anger at Kara’s disparaging tone. Propping herself up on her elbow, she stared down at Kara intensely.

 

"Don't do that,” she growled. “Don't you _ever_ do that.”

 

Kara blinked up at her, confused.

 

“What?" She questioned.

 

Lena’s face softened, and she traced her fingers up Kara’s side, taking in the old scars and marks that littered her body from a lifetime of hard labour, her body now a familiar to Lena as her own. She let them dance and hover, taking in Kara’s sharp breath with a smile as they skated across her chest and up her neck until she cupped Kara’s face.

 

"Put yourself down,” she replied finally and firmly. "Never do that again. Promise me.”

 

Lena leaned down until her forehead rested on Kara’s and their breaths mingled.

 

“You are the kindest, gentlest, most beautiful human being that I've ever met,” she continued in a whisper, just as seriously. “And I'll be damned if you don't realise it.”

 

Lena folded her body over Kara’s, pressing against her and taking in her sharp exhale with a gentle smile. She pressed a series of tender kisses down Kara’s jaw, softly continuing to whisper against Kara’s skin as she moved down her way down slowly. 

 

“You deserve the entire world, Kara,” husked out words sent shivers across Kara’s skin. “And I'm hard-pressed to think of a single person in it that could ever deserve you.”

 

_I don’t deserve you._

 

Lena hesitated at her thoughts, giving Kara enough time to take a proper breath.

 

"Lena, I-"

 

She didn’t let her finish, swallowing the kiss. Revelling in Kara’s unnaturally soft lips, convinced that the other woman had started using chapstick entirely for Lena’s benefit. Kara’s lips parted the instant Lena swiped at them with her tongue. With a gentle nip at the bottom lip she had captured, she felt Kara’s slight whimper more than heard it, and it was more than enough to send a wave of heat even lower in her stomach, and she closed her eyes tightly as she pulled away., But she failed against her conviction, opening her eyes so that she could see the brightness in Kara’s blue so close to her own, and feel the erratic exhales of Kara’s breath hitting her cheek. She tried to search Kara’s gaze for what she was expecting to see – fear or regret or embarrassment or all that Lena knew right now was what she deserved. But all she saw was heated kindness, desire and infatuation. Lena shoved all her feelings out the door in favour of smirking down at Kara.

 

”Lena, if you keep doing that... I don't think I'm going to get to sleep,” Kara husked out.

 

Lena’s smirk widened and lowered her hand to brush against the curve of Kara’s breast, inciting a gasp that turned to a groan when Lena followed the gesture with a soft bite at Kara’s neck.

 

“Don’t worry,” she purred. “I’ll find a way to exhaust you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was it worth the wait? I sure hope so! Let me know your thoughts and feelings in the comments, hit kudos or subscribe and always feel free to hit me up on Tumblr @assumingminds19. I'm always happy to chat and I love answering people, so don't feel shy ☺️


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